Swift: ‘We Don’t Seem to Have Many Options in Terms of Economic or Political Influence’ in N. Korea

EXCERPT:

SWIFT: "Certainly we expect the U.N. Security Council on some level to condemn yesterday’s test launch. International law defines an intercontinental ballistic missile as any missile that can go over 3,400 miles. The missile that was tested yesterday can go 4,100 miles. That  brings Russia and China well within the range of this particular missile in addition to some of the outlined U.S. possessions. Generally speaking, there is an interest in condemning North Korea, the question is really the substance behind that rhetoric. One of the difficulties we’ve had in the last six decades with North Korea is that we tend to take a very strong approach on rhetoric, we don’t seem to have many options in terms of economic or political influence within the country and it’s hard to know exactly what the U.N. Security Council will ultimately be able to do. For a lot of countries in the international community, they’ve made a calculation that it is less expensive to manage the North Korea problem than it is solve it."