Monday, September 26, 2005

The Issue Of Reality

New powers of persuasion needed in North Korea talks

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL(Reuters) Mon Sep 26, 2005 - The five countries which persuaded North Korea to sign on to a new regimen to end its nuclear programs have their work cut out to stay united and focused on nuclear weapons rather than diplomatic recognition or energy.
Work long overdue.

North Korea agreed in six-party talks last Monday to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for aid, security guarantees and increased diplomatic recognition, but cast doubt on the deal a day later by asking for civilian nuclear reactors first.
The way I see this situation: If Kim Jong Il has no intention of honoring the deal in the long run... what does it hurt trying to USE the deal as extortion?

Political analysts said North Korea may have been trying to test the limits of the deal reached in Beijing, where the parties agreed to discuss a civilian nuclear reactor for the North "at an appropriate time".
The day AFTER a new North Korean government is installed, would be the most "appropriate" time.

They expect North Korea to continue to bring up such issues, aiming to drive wedges between the other five parties as a way of strengthening its bargaining position in follow-up talks.
"A real breakthrough still remains possible if the other five parties can avoid being distracted by the light-water reactor issue and insist with one voice that Pyongyang start charting a clear path towards accomplishing agreed objectives," Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank, told Reuters.

Like letting people enjoy freedoms everyone else takes for granted...

North Korea's five dialogue partners -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- will be talking constantly to maintain a united front in their dealings with the North before the next round scheduled for November, analysts said.
It should get interesting...


The best way to move beyond talk of the light-water reactor issue is to move the process into working-level meetings of experts so that they can address the devil in the details of the agreement, Cossa said.

I'm not even going to point out the obvious punchline in this statement...

"The light-water reactor demand also serves to distract attention away from the real issue, which is Pyongyang's plutonium- and uranium-based nuclear weapons programs and how to both account for and then verifiably dismantle them," he said.

Neither, is the REAL issue...

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