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Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications for the White House

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications for the White House, said on Sept. 23 that North Korea is at a different stage of nuclear development than Iran, since the North already possesses nuclear weapons.

Rhodes made this statement in response to a reporter who mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Iran to North Korea and asked whether this was an appropriate comparison. The question was asked during a press gaggle held aboard Air Force One, the plane used by the US President, en route to New York.

US intelligence officials assume that North Korea already possesses nuclear weapons, but it is highly unusual for a high-ranking official at the White House to mention North Korea‘s possession of nuclear weapons in a public setting. The US does not officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.

“The comparison is simply that they are two nations that have not abided by international nonproliferation norms,” Rhodes said. “But the fact of the matter is North Korea already has a nuclear weapon. They acquired one, tested one in the beginning of 2006. And Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon.”

“And that’s all the more reason why we need to take steps to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon so that we’re not presented with the type of situation that we have in North Korea where you’re seeking to denuclearize a country that has already crossed that threshold,” Rhodes explained.

“That’s why we’ve put in place a sanctions regime. That’s why we’ve also held open the door to a diplomatic resolution,” he added.

The remarks by Rhodes also explain in part why the US is lowering the intensity of its diplomatic involvement in North Korea, in contrast with Iran.

Rhodes is only 35 years old, but he is said to have played a key role in drafting US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy since joining Obama’s presidential campaign five years ago.

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