North Korea's rocket launch

Why Kim Jong Il might win even though his satellite shot was a dud

North Korea claims it launched a satellite into orbit, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Pyongyang says the satellite is broadcasting "immortal revolutionary paeans" back to Earth — the U.S. says it really fell into the Pacific. But unless President Obama tries a new, more forceful North Korea policy, dictator Kim Jong Il will be able to parlay the attention he got from this launch into more money and energy supplies from the West.

Obama will "have to walk a fine line between not allowing Pyongyang to be seen to 'get away with' such blatant defiance," said Peter Foster and Philip Sherwell in Britain's The Telegraph, while "leaving North Korea a way back to the all-important Six-Party on nuclear disarmament." But talking tough could be the only option, because Russia and China have made clear they won't support fresh sanctions against North Korea's "bankrupt regime."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us