Obama: Nuclear North Korea not inevitable

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — As new sanctions against North Korea take effect, President Obama said Tuesday that he does not believe it is inevitable that the isolated communist nation “will or should be a nuclear power.”

Obama spoke during a Rose Garden news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who traveled to Washington seeking explicit assurance that the Obama administration will continue the long-standing U.S. policy of protecting his country from North Korean attack.

Lee’s request was granted in a written “joint vision” of the U.S.-South Korea relationship, issued Tuesday.

The two leaders’ meeting came against a backdrop of increasingly belligerent actions and rhetoric from North Korea. The reclusive government recently detonated a nuclear device and pledged never to abandon its weapons program, steps that prompted the U.N. Security Council to approve a new program of sanctions last week.

Those include financial restrictions against North Korea’s government and leaders, a ban on its lucrative arms exports, and permission for countries to search North Korean shipping on the high seas.