Politics: Diplomacy: North Korea negotiates nuke-free Korean Penninsula, agrees to close down nuke-making

Whew!, Washington Post in a lengthy report by Edward Cody, filing from Beijing, "North Korea Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament" (Feb13,2k7) gives a postive hopeful construction of NorKor's latest diplomacy. Here's an introductory excerpt to this very important article:

In a landmark international accord, North Korea promised Tuesday to close down and seal its main nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil as a first step in abandoning all nuclear weapons and research programs.

North Korea also reaffirmed a commitment to disable the reactor in an undefined next phase of denuclearization and to discuss with the United States and other nations its plutonium fuel reserves and other nuclear programs that "would be abandoned" as part of the process. In return for taking those further steps, the accord said, North Korea would receive additional "economic, energy and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil."

The pledges -- in an agreement reached here by North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States -- marked North Korea's first concrete commitment to carry out an agreement in principle, dating from September 2005, to relinquish its entire nuclear program. In the view of U.S. and allied diplomats, they also amounted to a down-payment on establishment of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and a new set of relations among the countries of Northeast Asia.

"The parties reaffirmed that they will take positive steps to increase mutual trust and will make joint efforts for lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the accord said. "The directly related parties will negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate forum."

In a statement issued by the White House, President Bush said he was pleased with the agreement. "These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea's nuclear programs," he said. "They reflect the common commitment of the participants to a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons."

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear negotiator, qualified the first-step accord as "a very solid step forward."

"We're moving off the pages of the September '05 agreement onto the ground," he added. "We have an initial set of actions, and then we have a peek into the next phase, which would involve the dismantling of the facilities."

The actual first transaction may well take place, but it remains to be seen if Cody's optimism plays out in the longer term. One may have acquired, as have I, a general skepticism regarding anything NorKor agrees to. Despite any skepticism , without nuclear-energy even for peaceful purposes, it's obvious that NorKor needs what would be its "alternative energy" supply of oil for a myriad of non-military energy purposes (in a very cold winter climate, to say the least). Is this a concrete small step toward the peace of the world? I do hope so. But I'll be watching the more dobuting account that will appear [has now appeared!] in China e-Lobby.

--Politicarp