Nuclear neighbor

North Korea | Kim’s antics may worry China and South Korea, but a collapsing Pyongyang would terrify them | Priya Abraham

Residents of Dandong, China, a city that faces North Korea across the Yalu River, had a running joke about their neighbor's decrepit technology last summer. If North Korea aimed an intercontinental missile at the United States, they said, it would probably hit downtown Beijing.

They were right about the failure: When Kim Jong Il did test his long-range Taepodong 2 in July, it plunged into the Sea of Japan. The North Korean leader has been far more effective in rattling Dandong—and the region—with his claim of an underground nuclear test.

A diplomatic frenzy has followed in the weeks after North Korea's Oct. 9 explosion. The United Nations slapped new sanctions on the nation, banning luxury goods and military equipment going there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also did a quick spin of capitals, visiting South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia to whip up enthusiasm for sanctions and six-party talks.