President Park Geun-hye delivers an address on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal development to the National Assembly on Feb. 16 (Photos on the courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae)

Can the strongest-ever U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea convince the reclusive regime to give up its nuclear development the same way that sanctions ultimately pushed Iran to strike a nuclear deal with the United States.

South Korea, the United States and Japan have been spearheading the international move to  force North Korea to abandon its nuclear development program with more comprehensive and stern countermeasures multilaterally in the wake of North Korea’s launching of a satellite-carrying rocket into space on Feb. 7 and its fourth underground nuclear test on Jan. 6. 

South Korea has become the first country to come up with the strongest-ever sanctions against the Kim Jong-un regime on Feb. 10 by shutting down the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, North Korea. It was the last major symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation that had been kept intact for more than a decade despite numerous skirmishes between the two Koreas. 

The United States and Japan have followed suit, responding in an extraordinary and swift fashion to the North’s latest violations of the United Nations’ resolutions. The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly gave the go-ahead on Feb. 10 to new sanctions against North Korea to punish the rogue nation. A week later, President Barrack Obama signed the bill into law amid talk that the president hasn’t been tough enough with North Korea. The legislation, H.R. 757, is designed to pave the way for the administration to tighten sanctions on individuals and entities engaging in transactions related to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, cyberattacks, arms, narcotics and cash smuggling, human rights breaches, luxury goods buys, misuse of the global financial system and other illegitimate acts. 

Japan also convened a National Security Council meeting and announced its own new measures against North Korea that include expanded restrictions on travel between the two countries and a complete ban on calls by North Korean ships to Japan. A key part of the sanctions is a clause banning from remitting more than 100,000 yen to North Korea, tougher than a previous requirement of reporting the transferring of more than 3 million yen or carrying more than 100,000 yen. Experts say Japan’s sanctions will drain the Kim Jong-un of badly-needed currency to rule the North. Money sent from Japan had amounted to an estimated 2.3 billion yen before Japan imposed its own sanction in 2003.  

President Park, maintaining a trust-building stance on the Korean Peninsula since her inauguration three years ago, has shifted into a hard-line policy. 

In an address to the National Assembly on state affairs on Feb.16, President Park declared, “Now is the time for us to find a fundamental solution to bringing about real change in the North and must the courage to achieve that end.” 

“It has now become indisputably clear that the existing approach and good intensions will by no means work in countering the North Korean regime’s determination to develop nuclear weapons, but will only lead to the enhancement of the North’s nuclear capabilities, with catastrophic implications for the Korean Peninsula,” the Chief Executive said.

“Gone are the days when we cave in to the North’s provocations and unconditionally pump aid into the North.” 

President Park said a total of 616 billion won in cash had been paid in dollars through Gaeseong Industrial Complex to date, with 132 billion won having followed into the North just last year alone, Instead of being using to improve the lives of the North Korean people, she said, “It has been found that most of that money is being funneled into the leadership of the Workers’ Party, which oversees the North’s nuclear and missile development.”

In the meantime, some South Korean politicians and pundits are saying that it’s time for South Korea to develop its own nuclear arsenal to counter the North’s actions. 

“South Korea is not in a situation to arm itself with a nuclear arsenal, but every have to do everything within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.” 

South Korea is capable of producing nuclear weapons if necessary at any time if it persuades the United States, as is Japan.

North Korea’s nuclear arsenal will have a nuclear domino effect in Northeast Asia that could lead to Japan and others’ development of nuclear arms.