Some powerful Democrats are attempting to make it clear to North Korean leaders that dragging their feet on nuclear disarmament will not be productive.
Having promised to shut down facilities used to produce nuclear weapons, North Korea is refusing to hold to an agreed-upon schedule to do so. That pact was made during talks involving North and South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
A few thoughtful Democrat leaders worry that the North Koreans may think that, by delaying, they can get a better deal out of the next U.S. president, who may be a Democrat.
William Perry, who served as defense secretary during the Clinton administration, traveled to North Korea this month to disabuse leaders there of that notion. If anything, the next president may take a more harsh stance, Perry told the North Koreans.
Perry and other Democrats behind the warning are to be commended for taking a nonpartisan approach to a serious concern.
But North Korea needs to hear it directly from the two Democrat contenders for president, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both of them should go on record unequivocally in supporting the current disarmament agreement ― and insisting that North Korea comply with it.
