North Korea Abandons Nukes, Sort of

The criminally insane regime of North Korea has surprised just about everybody by announcing that it is giving up on nuclear arms. The fourth round of the six nation talks that have gone on for two years have brought about a result the world might be able to live with (and it can’t live comfortably without one). The only problems are that none of the details have been worked out yet, and the US got the deal by essentially deferring some of the hard work that remains.

The full text of the deal boils down to a pretty easy quid pro quo. North Korea agrees to quit its nuclear efforts and rejoin the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the US assures Pyongyang that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and that it has no intention of attacking North Korea. As bonuses, Japan and North Korea agree to try to normalize relations. Everybody agrees to help North Korea overcome its energy shortage. And everyone agrees to meet in November to work some more.

The US negotiator, Christopher Hill, is under no illusions and was on the verge of walking out right before North Korea announced its change of heart. He told the BBC, “Whether this agreement helps solve this will depend in large measure on what we do in the days and weeks that follow. We need to take the momentum of this agreement and work to see that it is implemented.” Indeed. And the big worry is North Korea’s most recent, brand-new demand.

Last week, North Korea returned to the negotiating table demanding that, in addition to all the other rewards it gets for abandoning its nuclear program, the others build it a light-water nuclear reactor-based power plant for civilian use. The Bush administration rightly said that was a non-starter. An engineer who has enough nuclear physics to manage such a plant is pretty well positioned to start other research, into heavy water or worse.

However, the North Koreans did not drop the demand. Nor did the US agree to it. Instead, the parties agreed to discuss the issue at the “appropriate time.” That would be somewhere between “right this second” and “never.” Just the sort of detail that can scuttle the whole thing. The talks are not out of the woods, but the trees may be thinning out.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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