Hold the Applause
The North Korea nuclear deal is a breakthrough of sorts but leaves tough issues to be resolved later
The strategy developed by U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill reflects considerably more flexibility than granted earlier envoys. At unprecedented bilateral meetings in Berlin last month, U.S. News has learned, Hill and National Security Council official Victor Cha proposed that "disablement" of nuclear facilities should be the aim of a second phase of disarmament. That concept shaped the Chinese draft agreement ultimately adopted. But disablement falls short of actual dismantlement and removal of nuclear materials.
The United States, in effect, added one more phase to the lengthy scenario leading to "irreversible" dismantlement. Hawks want the North to fully disarm before it is rewarded. But others endorse this step-by-step approach. "Before you can end the project, you've got to stop it," reasons Mitchell Reiss, former policy planning chief at the State Department. The agreement defers the North's formal declaration of nuclear assets into the second phase. The United States suspects the North has a secret uranium-enrichment program-and that could be a showstopper. Hard-liners in office-though dwindling in number-could play "gotcha" with an incomplete North Korean declaration.
As the Beijing talks adjourned, Pyongyang's media called the suspension of its nuclear reactor "temporary"-a sign of future troubles. "This is still the first quarter," said Rice, a football fan. But it's not clear the game will even reach half time.
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