| Top of the Agenda: U.S. President Barack Obama urged North Korea and Iran (LAT) to abandon their nuclear programs, in a speech at Seoul's Hankuk University ahead of an international nuclear summit that begins today. Obama later condemned North Korea's planned rocket launch for next month, a move he suggested could put in jeopardy a recently agreed food aid deal between the two nations. The president vowed to work for a "world without nuclear weapons" (BBC), pledging to work with Russia to reduce the U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons arsenals. Analysis "For the United States, continued North Korean long-range missile testing highlights the priority concern of North Korean vertical proliferation and underscores the concern expressed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010 that North Korea's development of a long-range missile capability could become a direct threat to the United States," writes CFR's Scott A. Snyder in the CFR blog Asia Unbound. "It's striking if you look at the numbers--the cost of this missile program and test. It's well in excess of what it costs to feed the North Korean people for a year. So while the world is being forced to save North Koreans from starvation, its government is pursuing these programs that will just bring further isolation. There's clearly a lack of certainty in Pyongyang both about where it wants to go and about what it can get away with," CFR's Michael A. Levi said in this CFR Interview. "North Korea has perfected this cycle of provocations, negotiations, and concessions. And yet every time, the West falls into the trap. Both Washington and Seoul are well aware of Pyongyang's pressure points. Instead of countering the Kim clan with sustained financial sanctions and other measures though, they are enthralled every time the dynasty leaves open the window of opportunity for future talks," writes Sung-Yoon Lee in the Wall Street Journal. | 
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