The international community is joining forces to prevent North Korea from escalating its nuclear threat. The Group of Eight summit (June 1-3) at Evian, France, adopted a declaration on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, criticizing North Korea and Iran for its development of WMDs.
At about the same time, several countries affected by developments on the Korean Peninsula held a series of bilateral summits. Japan, the United States, South Korea, China and Russia took part, as international pressure for the peaceful settlement of North Korea's nuclear-arms issue and for denuclearization of the peninsula grew to an unprecedented level.
The international community shares a sense of crisis over the most serious security threat it has ever faced: international terrorism and the proliferation of WMDs. The threat emerged following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the recent Iraq war.