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may well be regarded as a definite threat to
peace.’’.
(3) Many international legal scholars have rec-
ognized that when a government begins making
preparations to initiate nuclear warfare, particularly
when that government has a history of committing
unprovoked aggression, those preparations may con-
stitute an ‘‘armed attack’’ within the meaning of Ar-
ticle 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. As
President Kennedy suggested, in the nuclear age
ominous changes in the availability or disposition of
nuclear weapons can be as much an armed attack as
an army crossing a border. Such an armed attack
gives rise to the right of self-defense on the part of
those against whom the preparations to initiate nu-
clear warfare are directed, including the right to use
such force as may be necessary and proportionate to
eliminate the threat.
(4) This principle of international law was the
legal basis for the naval blockade of Cuba ordered
by President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Cri-
sis in 1962. It also was the legal basis for Israel’s
preemptive strike against the nuclear reactor at
Osirak, Iraq in 1981. Both actions defused serious
threats to international peace and security. Both il-
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lustrate that no state will wait until it is too late to
defend itself.
(5) In view of the record of aggression and law-
lessness compiled by the current leadership of North
Korea over the last 45 years and the determination
with which North Korea is pursuing the development
of a nuclear explosive device, the President may con-
clude that the threat posed by North Korea’s
unsafeguarded nuclear program to such United
States allies as Japan and the Republic of Korea
and to United States forces in the region is so grave
as to warrant unilateral United States action to
eliminate the threat.
SEC. 4. POLICY DECLARATIONS.
The Congress approves and supports—
(1) the determination of the President to pre-
vent the development or acquisition by North Korea
of a nuclear explosive device;
(2) the President’s efforts to induce North
Korea to comply fully with its obligations under the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and the bilateral denuclearization agreement with
the Republic of Korea, including the obligation to
permit fullscope inspections of all suspected nuclear
weapons sites; and
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(3) the determination of the President to re-
spond appropriately should North Korea obtain a
nuclear explosive device and use such device against
any ally of the United States.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL ACTIONS BY THE UNITED STATES.
The Congress approves and encourages the use by the
President of any means necessary and appropriate, includ-
ing the use of diplomacy, economic sanctions, a blockade,
and military force, to prevent—
(1) the development or acquisition by North
Korea of a nuclear explosive device; or
(2) the use by North Korea of such a device
against United States forces in the region or against
any ally of the United States.
SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) REQUIREMENT FOR PERIODIC REPORTS.—The
President shall submit to the Congress periodic reports on
the status of efforts to prevent the development or acquisi-
tion by North Korea of a nuclear explosive device. Each
such report shall describe the actions taken by the United
States pursuant to section 5.
(b) WHEN REPORTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED.—A re-
port shall be submitted pursuant to subsection (a) within
60 days after the date of enactment of this joint resolution
and every 6 months thereafter until the President certifies
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to the Congress that North Korea has ceased its efforts
to develop or acquire a nuclear explosive device.
Æ