Archive for the 'Engagement' Category

North Korea Provides Documents: It’s Not Enough

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

North Korea has turned over thousands of pages of documentation for its plutonium-based nuclear program:
North Korea handed over more than 18,000 pages of nuclear weapons documents to a U.S. diplomat visiting Pyongyang on Thursday that will help verify its plutonium holdings, senior U.S. officials said.
[…]
“We will see if these documents will play a […]

North Korea Offers Yongbyon Records Back to 1990

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Rather than belligerent insults using archaic English following the Bush administration’s presentation of rather convincing evidence that North Korea was proliferating nuclear technology to Syria, North Korea is offering something to “complement” the declaration of nuclear programs called for in the 13 February 2007 deal:
North Korea has tentatively agreed to give the United […]

North Korea-Syria: Should be Oct 2002 Deja Vu, But Isn’t

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

During a meeting in P’yŏngyang on 04 October 2002, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minster Kang Seok-Ju admitted to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly that North Korea had a uranium enrichment program. That was the public beginning of the end of the 1994 Agreed Framework.
Now the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has revealed […]

North Korea-Syria: Banco Delta Asia Deja Vu

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

A joint statement (DOC) was issued at the conclusion of the fourth round of Six-Party Talks in September, 2005 that “reaffirmed that the goal of the Six-Party Talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.” It was hailed, by most, as a great breakthrough in coaxing North Korea to […]

It’s Official: There Is an Adult at the Blue House

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

I like all of it (courtesy of WaPo):
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said today that he will propose setting up a high-level diplomatic channel between North Korea and South Korea, including creating the first liaison offices in the two nations’ capitals. [Snip]
Lee has said that the relationship between the two countries must take a […]

A Return to the Principles of the Sunshine Policy

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

South Korea’s new president, Lee Myung-bak (이명박), though not explicitly stating it, appears to be returning to the original principles of the Sunshine Policy. Lee has vowed to remain calm despite North Korea’s recent actions and increased rhetoric, and continues to call for constructive engagement in a manner that reminds me of former ROK […]

North Korea Upgrades “Sea of Fire” Threat

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Apparently someone in the KPA Threat Department didn’t realize that ashes logically follow fire when attempting to make one of the standard threats sound more menacing:
North Korea threatened South Korea with destruction Sunday after Seoul’s top military officer said his country would consider attacking the communist nation if it tried to carry out […]

New Sheriff in Seoul/Fracture in Pyongyang?

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

North Korea expelled 11 South Korean officials from the Kaesong Industrial Zone in response to rising criticism of its regime and human rights record from the new South Korean administratin of Lee Myung-Bak:
For a month, the new president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, has been warning North Korea to clean up its act on […]

New York Philharmonic Dividends

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

Now over three months past the deadline, still no nuclear declaration from North Korea:
Rice urged China to press North Korea to disclose its nuclear programs so that the stalled accord can move forward…
And dark, probably true allegations:
North Korea earlier this week publicly executed 15 of its citizens for trying to flee the country by […]

North Korea Reneges, Again: Broken Window Theory Revisited

Monday, February 18th, 2008

If ever there was a time to drop the hammer on North Korea for habitually reneging on nuclear deals, now would be the time:
Speaking to reporters in Beijing Saturday, [Sigfried Hecker] said North Korean officials have told him they will not provide a full declaration of the country’s nuclear programs until other countries provide […]