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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON NORTH KOREA 
 
Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Will the world coexist with nuclear Korea?" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Kharroub writes on the op-ed page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (10/10):  "The North 
Korean nuclear issue is different from its Indian and Pakistani 
counterparts who are considered the last to snatch their membership 
in the six-country nuclear club.  India and Pakistan are waging a 
feverish battle of armament and they are arch enemies working hard 
to build a huge arsenal against one another in a manner that could 
be considered an internal war....  North Korea is something 
completely different.  That is why the nuclear test explosion was 
shocking and surprising, and it even ridiculed the expectations that 
believed that Korean announcement of the nuclear test was just a 
test balloon aimed at improving negotiating conditions with 
Washington....  The least that can be said is that North Korea 
re-wrote the world's agenda and imposed on the five member countries 
in the nuclear club to re-read the issue, forcing them to come off 
their high horses and exposing the master of the White House, 
especially in view of the massive failure of the policies of force, 
wars and pre-emptive strikes.  As 'a war leader,' [the U.S. 
President] failed to stop North Korea, and Iran, from going ahead 
with their nuclear programs....  Will the world coexist with one of 
the countries of the axis of evil going nuclear?  The indications 
say yes it will, although North Korea will pay a huge price, but now 
it does have the opportunity to acquire more benefits and incentives 
without having to lose or abandon its program." 
 
-- "Hope for peaceful resolution" 
 
Centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times (10/09) editorializes: 
"The fact that North Korea has openly declared its intention to test 
a nuclear device ahead of time, knowing all too well that it would 
invite a chorus of condemnation, gives way to speculation.  Is it 
merely bluffing to extricate from Western countries concessions 
denied in the past or is the regime intent on flexing muscles in an 
already jittery neighborhood?  Reviewing things, as recently as 
September 2005, North Korea agreed to give up nuclear testing in 
return for some incentive, including a reactor for civilian use. 
Immediately thereafter, the US imposed financial sanctions on the 
country. Matters continued to deteriorate between North Korea and 
Washington when North Korea test fired seven missiles last July. 
Then, last week, North Korea again raised the stakes by announcing 
its intention to test a nuclear device.  It seems that North Korea 
is trying to tell something to the US and its partners in the 
so-called six-party talks on the country's nuclear program.  Yet the 
ease with which North Korea expressed readiness to renounce its 
nuclear plans only a year ago may be an indication that convincing 
it, again, to stop testing on a quid pro quo basis would not be that 
difficult.  It is hoped that the international community has not 
heard the last word from North Korea and that peaceful options are 
still available, provided there is willingness across the board to 
resort to them." 
RUBINSTEIN