Word: pyongyang
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...argues that their deal is much stronger than the one negotiated in '94 because it effectively isolates Kim. The Agreed Framework was bilateral, the argument goes, whereas this time North Korea's neighbors-including its closest ally and major benefactor, China-are signatories to the deal, which should force Pyongyang to keep its promises and continue to bargain in good faith. The Chinese were infuriated by Kim's October nuclear blast; President Hu Jintao had publicly warned against such a test. This "deal has muscle," argues Michael Green, a former NSC adviser on East Asian affairs in the Bush Administration...
...status quo: a North Korea bent on producing more weapons. Former Clinton negotiator Dan Poneman likened the latest agreement to putting a "tourniquet" on the plutonium program. If the Yongbyon reactor is shut down, the North's ability to make more plutonium-fueled nukes is crippled. And although Pyongyang has not agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, a path for further negotiations has been set. This is likely the best deal the U.S. could get right now, and the fact that Bush's team took it means "they have come to face reality," says former NSC adviser Samore, rather than...
...actually worse off than when the Agreed Framework was signed, as North Korea has used the past five years of wrangling to expand its nuclear arsenal. Nonetheless, a deal is a deal, and better than no deal at all. Never mind that this week's agreement is silent on Pyongyang's uranium enrichment, an issue that precipitated the current crisis. Nor that it says nothing concrete about the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear facilities, materials and weapons. What we got in Beijing this week was the best deal we could...
...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...