Negotiating with North Korea
Multilateral Diplomacy is Succeeding in the Korean Peninsula
North Korea has agreed to disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of 2007.
Wednesday in Beijing, officials announced that North Korea will disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of this year. The announcement follows multilateral negotiations between representatives of North and South Korea, China, Japan, the U.S., and Russia. The U.S. and North Korea’s neighbors have agreed to gradually compensate North Korea with 950,000 metric tons of fuel oil or its equivalent in economic aid, approximately 500 million dollars. The Bush administration has also agreed to remove North Korea from its list of terrorist-sponsoring countries and to begin removing trade sanctions. North Korea has not agreed to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.
Eager for a diplomatic success, the hapless Bush administration has been uncharacteristically patient with North Korea. Although Bush refused to negotiate unilaterally with North Korean president Kim Jung-Il’s regime, Washington did make numerous concessions to Pyongyang. Critics of the agreement argue that the Bush administration is rewarding North Korea despite Pyongyang’s numerous offenses, which include testing a nuclear device in October 2006, firing missiles into the Sea of Japan, numerous human rights abuses, and allegedly supplying Syria with nuclear materials.
For years, the Bush administration has sensibly resisted pressure to address North Korea unilaterally. Already engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. must not overextend itself further if it is to remain militarily superior to aspiring superpowers like China and Russia. America must insist that emerging superpowers take some responsibility for regional security. There is little risk that the U.S. will endure an attack from North Korea. Japan, China, and South Korea are the nations put at risk by North Korea’s nuclear program, and those countries should take responsibility for security in the region.
Fully disarming North Korea is the ultimate objective; thus far Jung-il has resisted. Disarming Pyongyang will alleviate tension between China and Japan, allow North Korea to trade freely, and improve North Korea’s relations with its neighbors and with the U.S. North Korean administrators are being presented with an opportunity to integrate North Korea’s economy without forfeiting authority. If Pyongyang fulfills its contractual obligations, the Jung-il regime will benefit tremendously. However, if Pyongyang neglects to disable its nuclear facilities or misuses economic aid, than the U.S. and its allies must be prepared to abandon soft diplomacy.
Sources:
“Score One for Diplomacy.” The New York Times. October 4, 2007.
