Is It Legal to Stop North Korea’s Nuclear Exports?

As the first round of negotiations with North Korea ended without positive results, the US is considering other strategies to deal with the nuclear crisis in Northeast Asia. The hawks in the Bush administration have come up with the "quarantine" solution, which will put North Korea in an isolated position, allowing only food into the country. They also advocate interdictions of North Korean vessels on the open seas, despite the current lack of a UN mandate allowing such actions. The South Koreans, however, fear that the North may counterattack Seoul in response to such a policy, while the Chinese are concerned about possible refugee floods and the collapse of the regime. – YaleGlobal