THE TROUBLED NORTH KOREA DEAL
The New York Times, September 29, 2008
The hard-won nuclear deal with North Korea seems to be unraveling after a hopeful period in which the North shuttered its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and dramatically blew up the cooling tower.
Workers stopped dismantling the complex last month, after the United States failed to take North Korea off the terrorism list — a step toward diplomatic rehabilitation. Now technicians at Yongbyon are preparing to restart a plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, is notoriously erratic, and there are reports that he may be seriously ill, raising doubts about who is calling the shots. It has never been clear whether Pyongyang really meant to give up all of its weapons.
In this case, the Bush administration bears much of the blame.
Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration hard-liners have never wanted to negotiate with North Korea. For six years they managed to block any serious talks. During that time North Korea produced enough plutonium for at least four additional weapons and tested a nuclear weapon.
Over the past two years, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a competent team of diplomats have been running the show. But now it looks as if Mr. Cheney and Co. are back in charge. The administration is insisting that before it will remove North Korea from the terrorism list, Pyongyang must first accept a plan for verifying its nuclear programs that only a state vanquished in war might accept.
The New York Times, September 29, 2008
The hard-won nuclear deal with North Korea seems to be unraveling after a hopeful period in which the North shuttered its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and dramatically blew up the cooling tower.
Workers stopped dismantling the complex last month, after the United States failed to take North Korea off the terrorism list — a step toward diplomatic rehabilitation. Now technicians at Yongbyon are preparing to restart a plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, is notoriously erratic, and there are reports that he may be seriously ill, raising doubts about who is calling the shots. It has never been clear whether Pyongyang really meant to give up all of its weapons.
In this case, the Bush administration bears much of the blame.
Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration hard-liners have never wanted to negotiate with North Korea. For six years they managed to block any serious talks. During that time North Korea produced enough plutonium for at least four additional weapons and tested a nuclear weapon.
Over the past two years, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a competent team of diplomats have been running the show. But now it looks as if Mr. Cheney and Co. are back in charge. The administration is insisting that before it will remove North Korea from the terrorism list, Pyongyang must first accept a plan for verifying its nuclear programs that only a state vanquished in war might accept.
(...) [artículo aquí]
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