Tensions rose in the Korean Peninsula recently, with South Korean leaders calling for North Korea to “pay a price” for its attack on a warship that killed 46 South Korean soldiers. According to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Washington supports the pressure South Korea is putting on its instigating neighbor to “stop its belligerence and threatening behavior.”

North Korea is no stranger to belligerent and threatening human right violations. Laura Ling, one of the journalists recently released from North Korean prison after being arrested for “hostile acts,” spoke out about her investigation into North Korean sex trafficking. Ling said many young women are being held captive and forced to strip for strangers on the Internet, and have difficulty fleeing the country as refugees. And Kim Jong-Il himself has been reported to keep a number of women for his Gippeumjo, meaning “Pleasure Brigade” or “Joy Division,” who are given six months training in sexual techniques and required to “write a pledge of allegiance in blood.”

With such an abominable track record, it seems to be well past time for members of the international community to demand North Korea pay the piper.