LONDON -- "They don't negotiate like we do," explained Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and one of the North Korean regime's few channels of communication with the United States, after meeting with Pyongyang's representative in January. "They believe that to get something, they have to step up the rhetoric, be more belligerent."

They have certainly stepped up the rhetoric now. At a meeting between North Korean and U.S. diplomats in Beijing on April 24, North Korean delegate Li Gun told U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly that Pyongyang already has nuclear weapons, and has almost finished reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods from its reactor at Yongbyon, which would give it enough fissile material for half a dozen more.

Not only does North Korea have nuclear weapons, but it is prepared to test them or pass them on to other countries, or maybe even to terrorists, if Washington does not end the crisis on Pyongyang's terms. "We can't dismantle them," Li told Kelly. "It's up to you whether we do a physical demonstration or transfer them." President George W. Bush immediately accused North Korea of "blackmail" -- but what can he do about it?