They have produced more plutonium than electricity,

we still cannot account for all of North Korea's plutonium.

We know North Korea has the plutonium that can go into the bomb,

The power company shut off the electricity to the mine because the company was in arrears in paying its power bill.

It would be nice to think that the menacing aspects of North Korea were for display also, that the bombs and reactors were Potemkin showcases or bargaining chips. On the plane from Beijing I met a group of unsmiling Texan types wearing baseball caps. They were the 'in-country' team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, there to inspect and neutralize North Korea's plutonium rods. Not a nice job, but, as they say, someone has to do it. Speaking of the most controversial reactor at Yongbyon, one of the guys said, 'No sweat. She's shut down now.' Nice to know. But then, so is the rest of North Korean society shut down—animation suspended, all dead quiet on the set, endlessly awaiting not action (we hope) or even cameras, but light.

We have options for dealing with this, but there is one option we do not have, and that is the option of simply walking away.