Penalties threatened for N. Korea

The United States and allied powers threatened Monday to impose new penalties on North Korea after the defiant regime announced its second nuclear bomb test, but their leverage in derailing the weapons program appeared limited.

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, meeting in emergency session in New York, denounced the test as a “clear violation” of a 2006 resolution. China and Russia, usually North Korea’s defenders, joined with France, Britain and the United States in the statement. The council planned to meet again today to consider further steps.

President Obama described the test as a “blatant violation of international law,” and declared that the United States and other world powers “must take action in response.”

U.S. officials insisted that the blast, and a subsequent test of short-range missiles, did not catch them by surprise. But the timing is bad for an administration facing a nuclear threat in Iran and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Consumed by those crises, the Obama team has yet to develop its formal policy on North Korea.

While U.S. officials said they expected world powers to pull together, some acknowledged that sanctions were not likely to cause North Korea to quickly change a course of action that began late last year, when Pyongyang declared it was ending participation in six-country disarmament talks, tested a long-range rocket and expelled international nuclear inspectors.

Monday’s test was viewed in South Korea, Japan and some other countries as a more disturbing development than the low-yield 2006 test, which was widely seen as a failure. While few believe North Korea would launch a nuclear attack, a nuclear-armed Pyongyang would raise the possibility of terrorists acquiring a device and would put the regime in a vastly stronger position in negotiating with its neighbors and the United States.

China said after the test that it was “resolutely opposed” to it, according to a Foreign Ministry statement carried by the official New China News Agency. The Kremlin issued an unusually harsh condemnation, expressing “extremely serious concern.”

U.S. officials were pleased with those strong reactions. “What’s important is not as much what’s in the sanctions as the fact that there is unity,” one U.S. official said. Even so, it remained unclear how far China and Russia would go in trying to punish the Pyongyang regime.

North Korea notified State Department officials after 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday that it planned a nuclear test. Obama was notified by his national security advisor, retired Gen. James L. Jones Jr., at midnight, less than an hour after it had taken place, U.S. officials said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea on Monday morning. Obama called South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday night, offering “unequivocal commitment” to the defense of their two nations and pledging close cooperation on the issue bilaterally and through the United Nations.

U.S. officials said they saw three factors motivating North Koreans to conduct the test.

They said the North Koreans have decided that they want a nuclear weapons arsenal as a deterrent, and believe that the test will help establish their status as a nuclear state. They believe that the provocative action may help them bring the United States to the negotiating table in a mood to make concessions.

In addition, officials believe, the defiant action reflects North Korea’s internal political turmoil as powerful groups try to ensure their position when the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, steps down. These groups believe they are better off appearing tough to each other, and to others in North Korea.

The U.S. and its allies may now be closer to imposing the sanctions on military-related trade and luxury goods that were considered, but never implemented, by the United Nations after North Korea’s April 5 rocket test. Advocates may seek other U.N. and bilateral sanctions as well, including penalties on North Korean companies and financial institutions, analysts said.

The outrage at the test may also encourage other United Nations members to join the U.S.-sponsored “Proliferation Security Initiative,” a program that seeks to monitor trade in illegal weapons and related equipment.

South Korea announced early today that it would join the initiative.

Charles L. Pritchard, a former U.S.-North Korea nuclear negotiator, said the test had the benefit of galvanizing world opinion that has been divided. “This really clarifies their intentions,” he said of the North Koreans.

But U.S. officials acknowledged that these steps are not likely to change North Korea’s course, at least not in the short term.

“The Obama administration has very few choices,” said Michael Green, head of Asian affairs at the National Security Council under former President George W. Bush.

Although the Obama administration came into office ready to seek reconciliation with former adversaries, senior officials seem divided on whether North Korea needs outreach or tough treatment.

Clinton declared this spring that the United States would not submit to “blackmail” by Pyongyang.

Yet U.S. officials have made clear that they will continue to keep the door open for a resumption of the six-party talks. And many analysts believe that, in time, the United States may be open to the one-on-one talks that the North Koreans have been seeking.

Another complication is the need to win the release of two U.S. journalists who are being held in Pyongyang. In securing their release, U.S. officials must avoid the appearance of rewarding Pyongyang after it conducted a nuclear test.

Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, noted the speed and efficiency of the Security Council’s deliberations Monday.

“What we heard today was swift, clear, unequivocal condemnation in opposition to what occurred,” she said, adding that the group would move ahead to consider a new resolution that should be “a strong resolution with appropriately strong contents.”

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paul.richter@latimes.com

geraldine.baum@latimes.com

Times staff writers Peter Nicholas, Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller in Washington and Megan K. Stack in Moscow contributed to this report.