Word: kim
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Diplomats don't get paid to be blunt (at least not in public), but here's the undiplomatic truth: no one involved in negotiating with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il over nukes expects a smooth process. "If you're asking whether anyone thought the road to total disarmament would be completely straightforward," says an official who until recently was closely involved in the so-called six-party talks, "with no backsliding, no new demands, no different interpretations of timetables or whatever, then no, the answer is, of course...
...year--the first time, it stressed, that Pyongyang had agreed to a specific timetable on full denuclearization. The North Koreans in turn announced how happy they were that the U.S. had agreed to take Pyongyang off its list of state sponsors of terrorism, something Kim has long sought. The only problem is that the U.S. later flatly denied that Pyongyang was off the list, saying the February agreement only held that out as a prospect if and when the North verifiably no longer had nukes...
...This week, Kim seems to be playing the same game all over again, attempting to extract far more than was promised in exchange for reining in his nuclear program. On Monday, Chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill announced after meetings with his counterpart Kim Kae Gwan in Geneva that North Korea had agreed to dismantle its entire nuclear apparatus by the end of the year. Hill said that it was the "first time" North Korea had put such a timetable on its commitment to stand down its entire nuclear program. (And indeed, precisely when the North would...
...soon after Hill claimed victory, the North upped the ante, as it had in the case of the frozen bank assets. Kim Kae Gwan asserted that in his weekend talks with Hill, the U.S. had agreed to take Pyongyang off its annual list of state sponsors of terrorism. It's a goal the North has long sought, and not just for face-saving reasons: membership on the list, alongside nations such as Iran and Syria, denies North Korea access to economic benefits like low-interest World Bank loans. The February agreement had held out the possibility of such a deal...
...North is already getting some of the economic aid it was promised under the original agreement, so Kim may feel he has some room to pressure the U.S. over the terrorist sponsorship list. And the U.S.'s ability to push back may be limited. Much of the fuel and food aid Pyongyang is now getting comes from South Korea and China. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun has no incentive to anger Kim now that the two have agreed to a summit in Pyongyang in October. And the Chinese, in this their glorious Olympic year, have already pocketed the idea...