Word: pyongyang
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...even if all goes well, those steps will lead to the vexing question of whether the North is engaged in another nuclear-weapons program-one not addressed by the agreement-that involves processing highly enriched uranium, not plutonium, to make bombs. The U.S. confronted Pyongyang in 2002 with intelligence it claimed to have about the program, and according to U.S. diplomats at the time, Pyongyang confirmed it did indeed exist. Since then, the North has denied it has such a program-and now even Washington appears less certain. Last week, Joseph DeTrani, a key intelligence official, stunned a Senate panel...
...Hard-liners who had pushed for the isolation of North Korea pounced, suggesting the Administration was downplaying the uranium program to smooth the way for talks with the North. However, Hill said that while the U.S. lacks hard evidence, it intends to press Pyongyang for "complete clarity" on the program. Indeed, rather than lightening up on the North, U.S. Treasury Department officials appear poised to issue permanent sanctions against Banco Delta Asia, the Macau bank where about $24 million in assets allegedly belonging to North Korean officials have been frozen on grounds that the money is linked to illicit North...
...Still, Washington must tread cautiously if it is to avoid scuttling its hard-won dialogue with Pyongyang. Kim has repeatedly shown his willingness to walk away at the slightest provocation. Just this week, while the U.S. was parleying with the North Koreans in New York, similar talks between Japan and the North in Vietnam hit a roadblock. According to Japan's Foreign Ministry, Pyongyang temporarily suspended negotiations after Tokyo demanded that it account for Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s. Considering how tricky talking to the North can be, just achieving the immediate goal...
...those confused by the strange sight of suddenly friendly American and North Korean diplomats hitting a Broadway show together in New York this week, take comfort that in Asia Pyongyang is still a diplomatic migraine. As part of the agreement reached in the Six-Party talks last month, Japan and North Korea met yesterday and today in Hanoi for bilateral discussions aimed at normalizing relations between the two nations. (Like the U.S., Japan has never established official diplomatic connections with North Korea.) But while American negotiator Christopher Hill happily characterized his meetings with the North Koreans earlier this week...
...built his career on his tough stance against Kim Jong Il - has repeatedly insisted that there can be no diplomatic normalization or aid provided as part of any nuclear deal with North Korea unless the abductions are resolved first. That means the safe return of any surviving abductees by Pyongyang or conclusive proof of their deaths. North Korea has admitted 13 kidnappings, but says that all abductees have been repatriated to Japan or have died, and considers the issue closed...