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Hello?! Nuclear weapons over here!!! Hellooooooooo!!!

Reuters reports that North Korea would like everyone in the world to know that they still have matches and are very dangerous: North Korea said on Friday it did not wish to be taken off a U.S. terrorism blacklist, a reward it would be given if it abided by a disarmament deal, indicating it was ...

By Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

September 19, 2008, 11:59 AM

Reuters reports that North Korea would like everyone in the world to know that they still have matches and are very dangerous: North Korea said on Friday it did not wish to be taken off a U.S. terrorism blacklist, a reward it would be given if it abided by a disarmament deal, indicating it was stepping away from the pact. The North also said it had begun work to restore its Soviet-era nuclear Yongbyon plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium which was being taken apart under a disarmament-for-aid deal it reached with five regional powers, including the United States. "The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' nor expects such a thing to happen," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. Analysts have said the North might be trying to pressure the outgoing Bush administration as it looks for diplomatic successes to bolster its legacy. The North might also be thinking it can wait for a new U.S. president to try to get a better deal. Last month, North Korea said it planned to restart Yongbyon because it was angry at Washington for not taking it off a terrorism blacklist. In early September, it made minor but initial moves to restart the plant, U.S. officials said. This is likely a bargaining tactic. In some perverse way, you have to admire a country that says, "No, no, we're still a terrorist nation!"

Reuters reports that North Korea would like everyone in the world to know that they still have matches and are very dangerous:

North Korea said on Friday it did not wish to be taken off a U.S. terrorism blacklist, a reward it would be given if it abided by a disarmament deal, indicating it was stepping away from the pact. The North also said it had begun work to restore its Soviet-era nuclear Yongbyon plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium which was being taken apart under a disarmament-for-aid deal it reached with five regional powers, including the United States. “The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ nor expects such a thing to happen,” the North’s official KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. Analysts have said the North might be trying to pressure the outgoing Bush administration as it looks for diplomatic successes to bolster its legacy. The North might also be thinking it can wait for a new U.S. president to try to get a better deal. Last month, North Korea said it planned to restart Yongbyon because it was angry at Washington for not taking it off a terrorism blacklist. In early September, it made minor but initial moves to restart the plant, U.S. officials said.

This is likely a bargaining tactic. In some perverse way, you have to admire a country that says, “No, no, we’re still a terrorist nation!”

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner