Word: pyongyang
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...plutonium and nuclear weapons. For its part, North Korea has been able to take advantage of Washington's eagerness to engage. All it had to do was give the U.S. government a reason to claim success. Fortunately for North Korea, and unfortunately for the rest of the world, Pyongyang did not need to promise to ensure the dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, equipment, material and weapons...
...down to young children, North Koreans have boasted to recent visitors that Kim's great feat of testing a nuclear bomb last October has enabled their country to stand as an equal with the big powers. Second, the nuclear program is intended to deter a possible external attack-indeed, Pyongyang blames America's military prowess and policy of pressure for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Third, North Korea's nuclear capability gives it an upper hand militarily in relation to the South-an important consideration, especially with the reduction and, possibly, the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea. Fourth...
...Korea sees as compelling motives to possess nuclear weapons, it's highly unlikely it will succumb to a Libya-like solution and agree to completely rid itself of nuclear equipment and material, as Muammar Gaddafi's regime did in 2003. The best we can hope for, perhaps, is convincing Pyongyang not to produce any additional nuclear weapons. In 60 days' time, we'll know if even this modest goal can be reached. Now that the previous objective of achieving complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement looks increasingly unrealistic, the question boils down to this: Should the rest of the world accept...
...gives up a deal that-to be sure-is not 100% satisfactory, but that can serve as a start. The more ambitious goal of total denuclearization will only be achieved over time, within the context of broader changes that would include closer U.S.-China cooperation, increased Chinese pressure on Pyongyang or a leadership change in North Korea...
When dealing with North Korea, "making sure" is always the hardest part. Since 1994, when the Clinton Administration cajoled Pyongyang into promising to abandon its nuclear-weapons program, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il has repeatedly made and then reneged on such accords. For the Bush Administration, whose officials had once speculated openly about regime change, the agreement signed on Feb. 13 represented a marked shift to diplomacy. But have the U.S. and its four negotiating partners--South Korea, China, Russia and Japan--laid a solid foundation for eliminating Kim Jong Il's nuclear arsenal? Or is this agreement...