ANOTHER NORTH KOREAN RESPONSE TO OBAMA'S OUTREACH - AT 8:57 A.M. ET:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has restarted its nuclear facilities to harvest plutonium for atomic weapons, the regime said Saturday, just hours after the U.N. imposed new sanctions on the communist state for its recent rocket launch.

Though it could take months before the facility is fully operational, the move is a key step away from a 2007 disarmament deal -- signed months after North Korea conducted a nuclear test -- that called for the North to disable its atomic facilities in exchange for much-needed energy aid.

COMMENT:  North Korea has also announced that it's trying two American journalists as spies.  Thus, another country melts into submission in the mere shadow of the saintly American president.

Not.

This is dangerous stuff from North Korea.  Our diplomacy has failed, and we should admit it.  The North Koreans will not keep their agreements.  But there is no sense of urgency at the White House, as the Korean nuclear arsenal is set for another big boost.  The illusion continues that just a little more talk from Obama, and all will be turned around.

April 25, 2009