Sheila Smith, a regional international relations specialist at the East-West Center in Honolulu, called yesterday's missile launches by North Korea "a very destabilizing day for the region."

"It's unsettling and dangerous," Smith said. "The question really is if a diplomatic effort can be successful in convincing the North Koreans they can't behave this way. ... It's a tough agenda for the region."

Smith said "the consensus is that North Korea does a lot of things to get attention and more leverage in its negotiations with Washington."

"I think there's an attempt to get attention and push the U.S. into negotiating with them directly," she said. "But the U.S. does not want to normalize relations with North Korea until it agrees to open up its nuclear development facilities to international inspection."

Smith said that as a response President Bush has talked to leaders in Northeast Asia "and Washington is saying they're going to have a unilateral response to this."

The U.N. Security Council will take up the missile launch issue this morning.

Smith pointed to possible sanctions against North Korea by the Security Council.

"China's stance will be particularly noteworthy. China has refused to sanction North Korea in the Security Council and has preferred to keep the conversation within the six-party talks (with North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the U.S.)," she said.

"They think the carrot-and-stick approach is best and that sanctions aren't the best policy of getting North Korea to the bargaining table.

"China has had a defense treaty with North Korea since the end of the Korean War. Whether or not that would come into play if there's a conflict, isn't clear."

Smith said that both South Korea and China have the most to lose if there's a conflict on the Korean peninsula. That plays into why the two countries favor a go-slow approach that doesn't include sanctions against North Korea, but rather economic enticements to open up its society and normalize relations with the rest of the world.

Smith said that North Korea is known for its "brinkmanship," and yesterday's missile launches were an example.

"It likes to push things to the edge," she said. "This is the hallmark of North Korea's behavior. It's very hard to deal with because it doesn't recognize limits."