North Korea Agrees to Curb Nuclear Weapons Program

In a landmark move nonetheless shrouded by vague uncertainties, North Korea has agreed to shut down its long-feared nuclear program following pressure from the United States, China, Russian, Japan and South Korea at a six-nation conference in Beijing. The terms include the disabling of North Korean nuclear weapon construction and the cessation of operations of a nuclear reactor complex in the capital city of Pyongyang.

This sort of concession is in stark contrast to previous stances from North Korea, whose decidedly hawkish ruler Kim Jong Il showed no signs of letting up, even in the face of economic trouble, international pressure and unpromising weapon tests.

North Korea has sixty days to comply with conditions reached, at which time it will be appeased with aid in the form of 50,000 tons of valuable fuel or an equivalent financial outlay; previously, President Bush had refused any oil shipment to North Korea on account of its nuclear weapons program, considering the nation part of his famed "axis of evil". That previous oil deal had come under the terms of a 1994 agreement forbidding North Korea to pursue nuclear development.

Further terms of the new deal include assessment and inventory of its plutonium reserves and permission for international inspectors to tour the relevant facilities; in return will be further fuel or financial aid, and, of course, the security of no fears from attack.

While the ambassadors present smiles and handshakes and a favorable deal reached, and rightly so, the terms of the agreement say just as much with what has been left out as what has been accomplished. North Korean media claims that the nuclear suspension plan is "temporary", and the deal does not allude to the fate of any already-completed nuclear weapons North Korea may have in reserve-as many as one dozen atomic bombs.

Furthermore, some feel that the deal represents premature concession to North Korea. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, whose storied political career has included championing economic sanctions against North Korea, felt that this would send a message to other hostile nations that the United States will readily cave in fear of nuclear attack.

Politics aside, North Korea's commitment to any kind of abandonment of nuclear weaponry promises some glimmer of light on the horizon. With five stronger nations offering significant opposition to North Korea's more militant element at this time, there is room for optimism in securing a safer future even under the most worrisome conditions.

Sources
CNN: U.S. calls North Korean deal 'important first step', February 13, 2007
Sky News: Korea Nuclear Deal Agreed, February 13, 2007