Word: pyongyang
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...negotiation for 14 months. And as in other situations, the Administration has been unclear, possibly even to itself, on what its ultimate goal is. Should it try to keep North Korea from developing any nuclear weapons at all, as Clinton once insisted? Or should it aim only to keep Pyongyang from becoming a "significant" nuclear power, as Secretary of Defense William Perry later said -- which might imply that one or two A-bombs would be O.K.? The big danger is that having dodged one deadline after another for opening its nuclear facilities to inspection, Kim's regime will conclude that...
...know anything we can do about that," the Pentagon chief conceded, referring to U.S. intelligence reports that Pyongyang may already possess one or two atom bombs. "What we can do something about, though," he added, "is stopping them from building beyond that." Perry's statement is at odds with what President Clinton declared last November when he said that "North Korea cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb; we have to be very firm about it." That resolve has apparently been replaced by a recognition that the seepage of nuclear know-how is relentless. After surveying atomic-weapons programs...
...exchange, Washington will deliver the 38 American-made F-16 jets Islamabad has paid for but hasn't received because of its suspected A-bomb efforts. In North Korea's case, the Administration is willing to live with one or two bombs in exchange for Pyongyang's acceptance of rigorous international inspections that would ensure that no further production takes place. "It's not so much a conscious decision," a State Department official explains. "But if they've got one or two, it's going to be impossible to get them to give them up; every sewer and cave...
...Pyongyang plays brinkmanship over nuclear inspection...
...task for Clinton is to keep prodding and cajoling Pyongyang down that path without devoting so much attention to the problem that he raises the value of the North's nuclear card even higher. Right now, his wait-and-squeeze strategy has strong congressional support, but that could erode if the North were to escalate. Says a U.S. official: "Quite frankly, the real problem will be keeping extraneous issues -- Somalia, human rights in China, Whitewater -- from affecting our response and getting us off track." Then an embattled Clinton might be prompted to try what former ambassador to Seoul Donald Gregg...