Tested by North Korea

KIM JONG IL, NORTH KOREA’S dangerously eccentric leader, may succeed where President Bush has not. By stubbornly insisting on its right to test a long-range ballistic missile, North Korea is reinforcing the importance of a unified approach to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

Images from U.S. intelligence satellites show the North may be preparing to launch a missile with a range of about 9,000 miles, which would be capable of reaching Los Angeles. There is some debate about how ready the missile is, but there is reason to worry. Pyongyang pulled a similar stunt in 1998, sending a missile over Japan and into the Pacific, and a North Korean foreign ministry official said Tuesday that Pyongyang was not bound by a moratorium on testing it signed afterward. There are reports that the U.S. may have activated its missile-defense system.

North Korea’s erratic leader, coupled with its nuclear ambitions, have long caused international concern. For the last several years the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have participated in intermittent talks with Pyongyang. The basic outlines of a deal are clear: In exchange for food and energy aid, as well as guarantees of its security, the North will give up its nuclear weapons program.

But the rest is a muddle, and not just because Kim and Bush don’t get along. North Korea is an unreliable negotiator (in the space of 24 hours last September, North Korea essentially agreed to end its weapons program, then took it back). The Bush administration, meanwhile, has been at times intransigent and bellicose (Bush famously said he “loathes” Kim), and its efforts to convince its allies of North Korea’s wickedness have mostly fallen on deaf ears.

So China, given its long border and economic ties to North Korea, has been the primary driver of the discussion, but its view of the North’s aims is not as apocalyptic as the Bush administration’s. Japan and Russia have typically been reliable supporters of the U.S. position. And South Korea, which views the North as a kind of wayward cousin, has generally been more willing to engage Pyongyang, often to the chagrin of the United States.

One result of these divergent motivations is that talks have been dormant for months. Tuesday’s events will not revive them, but they should serve as a bracing reminder of their importance. The five nations have been nearly unanimous in their condemnation of North Korea’s plans, while nations such as Australia and France -- and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- also have expressed concern.

Diplomatic condemnations are easy, of course, and North Korea’s plans are worthy of them. But if there is anything good to come of Kim’s latest adventure, it will be a renewed sense of urgency among the U.S. and its allies to focus on the peninsula.