Word: reactor
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...joke. Those in the Administration who have argued for a strategy of engagement rather than isolation appear to be ascendant, particularly since the most recent round of Six-Party talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. There, North Korea agreed to shut down its Yongbon nuclear reactor, which produces the fissile material for its nuclear weapons, in exchange for a variety of economic and diplomatic benefits. These included an emergency delivery of 50,000 tons of fuel oil to generate electricity, an end to the financial sanctions that had enraged Pyongyang's leadership...
...which denuclearization is but one," Hill said, setting the goal as a general thaw in tensions in northeast Asia. The Six-Party agreement prescribes a step-by-step process to verifiably shut down Yongbyon, before the parties reconvene in Beijing to discuss further steps that would include dismantling the reactor. Hill acknowledges that progress towards a grand bargain depends entirely on small steps over the next few months. "It is unlikely that the North Koreans will roll out of bed in the morning and say we are going to make a strategic decision to get out of [the nuclear weapons...
...Still, in a first-things-first process, the focus for now remains on getting the North to verifiably dismantle its existing reactor, which has allowed it to build the six to ten bombs the U.S. believes it has. Getting to the point where the alleged uranium program is the only stumbling block to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula would be, by itself, a significant diplomatic victory. But as Hill himself is the first to acknowledge, it's a long way from here to there...
...what impact will the agreement have? At the very least, it provides the prospect of real improvement on the status quo, which is a North Korea bent on producing more weapons. If the Yongbyon reactor is shut down, the North's ability to make more nukes--or worse, peddle nuclear material to third parties--will be crippled. Although Pyongyang is a long way from giving up its nuclear weapons entirely, the diplomatic path toward that goal is more visible than it has been in years. This is likely the best deal the U.S. could get right now, and the fact...
...Administration can't be accused of overhyping what it got in Beijing. This was not a comprehensive solution that could bring about a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Under the pact, North Korea agreed to shut down within 60 days its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, where it's believed to have produced the fissile material needed to make the six to 10 nuclear weapons Kim is estimated to possess. Pyongyang has also promised to allow international inspectors into the country to verify compliance. In return, the North is to receive an emergency shipment of fuel oil from the U.S., China, Russia...