Disabling One Nuclear Threat...

North Korean secrets may be revealed

By Jeff Nelson

Last time, when I commented on this issue back in July, North Korea had just shut down its nuclear reactor facilities in Yongbyon.  A completion date for the next phase of the process had not been set, and I criticized the amount of progress we would see.   

Well I must say that I am surprised at the recent developments with this issue.  North Korea has actually agreed to a date by which to carry out the next phase of its de-nuclearization.   By December 31st, North Korea will disclose the full details of its nuclear program and disable the Yongbyon reactor.   The agreement was announced back on October 3rd.   

The talks reaffirmed the aid agreed upon last year.  Also, the U.S. agreed to work with Pyongyang toward removing it from the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism.   

Last week, a U.S. team of experts arrived in North Korea to begin work on finalizing the disablement of the reactor.  North Korea agreed to letting in a team from the U.S. to oversee the disablement.  I think that was done to add legitimacy to the process for the U.S.  If experts from the U.S. are leading the process, North Korea will have more credibility regarding future talks and agreements. 

Credibility seems to be an issue at this point especially with the rumors of North Korea supplying Syria with nuclear technology help.  Both governments deny those allegations.  However, North Korea is already known to provide missile technology to Syria.   We will have to see what they submit in the nuclear program disclosure about Syria or if Syria is even mentioned.   I think that is an issue that needs to be cleared up. 

We need to keep a lookout on the whole North Korea and Syria relationship.  We cannot have North Korea exporting their nuclear technology and research to other countries.  The details of all these agreements have not been released but I think where the knowledge about the nuclear programs goes is an important issue.

There seems to be a lot of excitement about the developments. I think it is a good thing, but we must remember that we cannot hurry this process.  It took baby steps to get the U.S. and North Korea to the table with each other, but just because we learned to start walking does not mean we can start running.  We need to step back and look at the whole issue, and realize that North Korea is not going to readily give up its bargaining chip with the world so fast.  There is the possibility that they are sitting on a stockpile of weapons.  Diplomacy is working though, working as an example here that it can reduce the amount of dangerous nuclear capabilities being developed.  We need to keep that in mind when dealing with other areas of the world.

Sources:

Assoc. Press, North Korean Official to Visit Syria, Wash. Post (Oct. 13, 2007) available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/13/AR2007101300797.html.

US nuclear team lands in N Korea, BBC News (Oct. 11, 2007) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7039280.stm.

Hyung-Jin Kim, Assoc. Press, S. Korea Sure of Early Nuclear Settlement, Wash. Post (Oct. 8, 2007) available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100800136.html.

John Sudworth, Could peace break out in Koreas?, BBC News (Oct. 5, 2007) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7030018.stm.

Korean leaders issue peace call, BBC News (Oct. 4, 2007) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7027236.stm.

Gordon Corera, First Pyongyang - then Tehran?, BBC News (Oct. 3, 2007) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7026759.stm.

North Korea agrees to nuclear deadline, BBC News (Oct. 3, 2007) available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7025930.stm.