The nuclear club is getting less exclusive by the day. Admittedly, North Korea is not a fully paid-up member yet. In spite of its Hiroshima-sized blast this week, it has not yet demonstrated it can make a warhead sufficiently small to mount on a long-range missile. But that day cannot be far off.
We need not have got into this mess. George W. Bush's first administration wantonly scuppered Bill Clinton's imperfect, but workable, 1994 framework agreement. Under that deal, Pyongyang froze its nuclear weapons programme in return for food, oil and help with a civilian light-water reactor. But Mr Bush wanted no truck with dictators. He also had evidence that North Korea was running a (tiny) secret uranium enrichment programme in addition to the Yongbyon plutonium facility.
The world is now paying the price for Mr Bush's refusal to sup with the devil. Worryingly, Pyongyang's drive towards full nuclear status may no longer be aimed at getting Washington's attention. Internal dynamics over the succession of Kim Jong-il, the frail dictator, and a diplomatic stand-off with the conservative administration now running South Korea have gathered a momentum of their own.