North Korea Pledges to Give Up Nuclear Weapons Program

[mac-er]

About 12:45 AM Eastern, CNN is reporting that North Korea will abandon its nuclear program.

[OnceUGoMac]

That's awesome. A step towards stability in Asia is a big bonus. It was bound to happen as China was pressuring them as well.

[mac-er]

Their web team must be alseep because they haven't updated that yet.

[snkTab]

Also, North Korea agrees to stop being communist.

I give them six months before they start up again. The North Korean government is crazy.

[zimv20]

link (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/international/asia/19nkorea-brief.html)


BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in a unanimous agreement Monday with other countries at six-party arms talks. The joint statement was the first ever after more than two years of negotiations.

The North "promised to drop all nuclear weapons and current nuclear programs and to get back to the (Nuclear) Nonproliferation Treaty as soon as possible and to accept inspections" by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to the agreement by the six countries at the talks.

"All six parties emphasized that to realize the inspectable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the target of the six-party talks," the statement said.

The North and United States also pledged in the agreement to respect each other's sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence, and also to take steps to normalize relations.

"The United States affirmed that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention to attack or invade (North Korea) with nuclear or conventional weapons," according to the statement, assurances echoed by South Korea.

Negotiators agreed to hold more talks in November, where they were expected to move on to concrete discussions about implementing the broad principles outlined in Monday's agreement. The main U.S. envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, has warned that could still be a long process.

The negotiations had been deadlocked over Pyongyang's demands that it retain the right to civilian nuclear programs after it disarms, and the statement acknowledges the North has made such an assertion but doesn't go beyond that.

North Korean officials had also demanded the country be given a light-water nuclear reactor at the latest talks -- a type believed to be less easily diverted for weapons use -- but Washington had said it and other countries at the talks wouldn't meet that request.

Putting aside the question for now, the joint statement said: "The other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of light-water reactor" to North Korea.

Pyongyang has also refused to totally disarm without getting concessions along the way, while Washington has said it wants to see the weapons programs totally dismantled before granting rewards. The statement, however, says the sides agree to take steps to implement the agreement "in a phased manner in line with the principle of 'commitment for commitment, action for action."'

The other countries at the talks said they were willing give energy assistance to the North, including a South Korean plan to deliver electricity across the heavily armed border dividing the peninsula.

"This is the most important result since the six-party talks started more than two years ago," said Wu Dawei, China's vice foreign minister.

The talks, which began in August 2003, include China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.

[mac-er]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/09/19/korea.north.talks/index.html

[Mike Teezie]

Wow, that's great news!

I feel odd though - I've become such a cynical guy the past few years, that I'm trying to read bewtween the lines to find a catch.

[Mechcozmo]

Of course, this is what they are saying, not necessarily what they are doing...

[IEatApples]

It seems hopeful.
Let's all hope for peace in the world. :)

[zap2]

well i hope the mean it

this goes to show you this is what we could have done in iraq to get rid of those WMD( thats were not there)

[rockthecasbah]

Of course, this is what they are saying, not necessarily what they are doing...
oh you realist.. :p Nah, it's possible. I mean it wont happen overnight, but i can see drastic changes coming to N. Korea...Maybe Kimmie baby's getting more peaceful in his old age :) .

[AoWolf]

Also, North Korea agrees to stop being communist.

I give them six months before they start up again. The North Korean government is crazy.


You assume they really stopped...

[clayj]

You assume they really stopped...I was gonna say, I assume there will be provisions for someone to monitor their activity... and let's not forget that they might have just dug a deeper cave somewhere else in order to continue their activity.

I wouldn't trust Kim Jong-Il any further than I could throw his big fat ass. "Hans Brix! Hans Brix!"

[mactastic]

I'm afraid I'm looking for the catch too... I can't imagine the original Dear Leader thinks the US is in a stronger position now than we were two years ago. So why the renewed interest in multi-party talks? Hiding something are we?

[IJ Reilly]

This deal looks strangely similar to the one worked out by the Clinton Administration, the one North Korea abandoned when it suited their interests. The key as always is verifiability. Maybe more has been accomplished on this score than previously, but that certainly remains to be seen.

I'll admit to being a little suspicious of the timing of this announcement, which seems to come at the very moment when Bush needs a victory of some kind, any kind. If this agreement turns out to be a half-baked half-measure, then I think we'll know how and why it came to be.

[broken_keyboard]

NK are total liars, they lied to Clinton and now they have lied to Bush...

[Dont Hurt Me]

NK are total liars, they lied to Clinton and now they have lied to Bush...
I was going to say, they have played past administrations and im sure they are keeping a eye on the fact Bush will be gone in 3 years. I wonder if this agreement is worth the paper its printed on? they arent trustworthy but after 5 years of Bush and Congress i could say the same about them.

Its a good first step lets hope its true and not spin from the North Koreans.

[mac-er]

I think we should all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya"

[Mike Teezie]

I'm afraid I'm looking for the catch too... I can't imagine the original Dear Leader thinks the US is in a stronger position now than we were two years ago. So why the renewed interest in multi-party talks? Hiding something are we?

Off topic - Happy belated birthday mac. I just checked your post count(!) and saw that our birthdays are one day apart.

[mactastic]

Off topic - Happy belated birthday mac. I just checked your post count(!) and saw that our birthdays are one day apart.
Thank you sir! Hope yours was enjoyable as well. I had quite a headache the morning after mine...

[anonymous161]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the continued financial success of China, which NKorea looks up to, literally. If Kim can get economic benefits packages for being a good boy and taking down his reactors, he can turn his whole country around financially in just a few years-much like what China has accomplished.

After all these years, world leaders may finally realize that money does in fact makes the world go 'round.

[eva01]

UN already pushing on N.Korea to let inspectors in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4261284.stm

[Sayhey]

This deal looks strangely similar to the one worked out by the Clinton Administration, the one North Korea abandoned when it suited their interests. The key as always is verifiability. Maybe more has been accomplished on this score than previously, but that certainly remains to be seen.

I'll admit to being a little suspicious of the timing of this announcement, which seems to come at the very moment when Bush needs a victory of some kind, any kind. If this agreement turns out to be a half-baked half-measure, then I think we'll know how and why it came to be.

Shades of Neville Chamberlain! Appeasement! Appeasement!

OK, not really, but I just had to say it because none of the folks we both were arguing with last year are going to dare say anything against this with Bush's signature on it. This looks exactly like what the Clinton administration worked out and was torpedoed by the GOP Congress for "appeasing" the North Koreans. Maybe someone in the administration figured out that they can't really invade North Korea right now, so just maybe a deal they could have had two or three years ago might be a better alternative to letting Kim continue building nuclear weapons.

[IJ Reilly]

Shades of Neville Chamberlain! Appeasement! Appeasement!

OK, not really, but I just had to say it because none of the folks we both were arguing with last year are going to dare say anything against this with Bush's signature on it. This looks exactly like what the Clinton administration worked out and was torpedoed by the GOP Congress for "appeasing" the North Koreans. Maybe someone in the administration figured out that they can't really invade North Korea right now, so just maybe a deal they could have had two or three years ago might be a better alternative to letting Kim continue building nuclear weapons.

Well it does seem to be a downright Clintonian agreement. It even seems to include a promise to discuss providing North Korea with light water reactors. Mark one in the loss column for the neocons!

[Thomas Veil]

Put me down as suspicious as everyone else. Good news like this, while appreciated, doesn't come for no reason...certainly not out of the sudden beneficence of Kim Jong-il.

[Dont Hurt Me]

I think the bottom line for N.Korea is there is so much to gain from giving up these weapons and little to gain by keeping them. And it does look a lot like the Clinton deal. Lets just hope they work out something better then say 1 or 2 inspectors who are suppose to watch the whole country.

[eva01]

So since i know next to nothing about this subject and the UN charter.

If N.Korea did create nuclear weapons while they were gone for the past two years, do they get to keep them? Or does the UN make them destroy them?

Maybe it was already stated somewhere and i may have missed it.

[Thanatoast]

They didn't lie to Clinton. They did *exactly* what they agreed to. The agreement was to end production and research into a plutonium-based weapon. That didn't occur while the Clinton agreement held. They *did* start work on a uranium-based weapon. Uranium is apparently a lot harder to work with than plutonium, so Clinton was buying time. Little did he know that W would come along and screw it all up, allowing the Koreans to make both kinds of bombs, without any outside intervention or monitoring at all.

[solvs]

Thank you sir! Hope yours was enjoyable as well. I had quite a headache the morning after mine...
But hey, at least you won't get blown up now! Happy B-Day. You probably should have stayed away from here for awhile though if you wanted to feel better. If you're anything like me, you hear some good news, then come here and get to see it isn't as good as you thought it might be.

Kinda the opposite of the Mac rumors part, where you get your hopes up just to be dashed by the reality.

[pseudobrit]

They've forgotten the Iraq precedent: give up your WMDs and the US invades posthaste.

[Err]

I think the key to this working is in China's hands. If China leans on N Korea and keeps pressure on them, this will work. China has alot to lose and care very much about resolving this, any instability in asia right now is bad for China as there are going through the same economic boom america did at the turn of the 19th century, maintaining stability is key for them. Besides Its time someone else solved a world problem.

[Steven1621]

Christopher Hill, the chief negotiator, went to my college...random fact

[mactastic]

Besides Its time someone else solved a world problem.Hopefully better than the way the US tends to 'solve' problems.

[Mike Teezie]

Thank you sir! Hope yours was enjoyable as well. I had quite a headache the morning after mine...

Ah, same here. Usually a sign of proper celebration!

:D