U.S. Calls on North Korea to "Cease Its Provocative Threats"

The back in forth and simmering hostility between North Korea and the U.S., as well as much of the Western world, continues in the wake of the small communist country’s rejection of a U.N. condemnation, and the Obama administration has noted that North Korea must "cease its provocative threats." Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has noted that the vow to restart a nuclear reactor and boycott international disarmament talks is "a serious step in the wrong direction."

Gibbs went on to say, "We call on North Korea to cease its provocative threats, to respect the will of the international community, and to honor its international commitments and obligations." The comments occur as North Korea is in the midst of expelling inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, retaliation for the U.N.’s recent condemnation of North Korea’s recent rocket launch.

The timeline of the back and forth between North Korea and the U.N. reads much like a "he said, she said" account, with the communist nation agreeing in 2007 to disable its primary nuclear complex in exchange for fuel oil. A year later, North Korea blew up a cooling tower to indicate a true commitment to stopping nuclear proliferation of any sort. In the wake of a disagreement over the nuclear verification process, however, the hostilities have re-emerged. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also offered her comments, in true diplomatic fashion, "We are viewing this as an unnecessary response to the legitimate statement put out by the Security Council, and obviously we hope there will be an opportunity to discuss this not only with our partners and allies but also eventually with the North Koreans."