North Korea may face blockade by US Navy

President Barack Obama is weighing a possible naval cordon sanitaire around North Korea as one means of ratcheting up sanctions amid the fierce global criticism of this week’s nuclear and missile tests by the reclusive communist country.

After the shock of its second nuclear test in three years — with a bare 25 minutes notice to the US — the regime yesterday rubbed salt into that diplomatic wound by test firing two short-range missiles, leaving the White House scrambling to stitch together an effective international response.