“Nuclear-free World” Dashed If U.S.Unable to Check North KoreanNuclear Arsenal

Christopher Hill, former head of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks, claimed that North Korean lies had finally been exposed after the recent discovery of their uranium enrichment facilities. The fault lies not only with the North Koreans; Americans, too, must reflect hard on having continued to swallow such lies. The six-party talks originally established to address the issue of North Korean nuclear weapons are, in reality, just a bilateral forum for U.S.-DPRK negotiations. The U.S. was the driving force behind the North Korean nuclear disarmament commitment outlined in the Joint Statement of Sept. 19, 2005, and the agreement of Feb. 13, 2007. If the U.S. had arranged for a tight six-party agreement that would punish North Korea’s violations with powerful sanctions, the situation would not have deteriorated into this current mess.

The U.S. claims it will not allow for breaches of international agreements, yet the Americans continue to fall prey to North Korean whims. To appeal for the release of two American journalists, former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in August 2009. When New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson visited Pyongyang last December, he played the role of the North Korean mouthpiece by claiming, without much substantiation, that the North was prepared to allow IAEA inspectors within its borders.

Yesterday marked the beginning of U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth’s Northeast Asia tour, which will serve as an opportunity to demonstrate American resolve. This tour is to include a bilateral meeting between the U.S. and China, the current chair country of the six-party talks. The U.S. Secretary of State and the Chinese Foreign Minister are slated to meet in May, while Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit China in September. A bilateral meeting between the American and Chinese presidents will open on Jan. 19 in Washington D.C. If U.S. persuasion is able to win Chinese cooperation in applying pressure to the North Korean regime, it will no longer be able to thoughtlessly dismiss external inputs.

If the North Koreans toe the line any further and proceed with nuclear testing, President Obama’s “nuclear-free world” will be just an elusive dream. Even the Nuclear Security Summit established by Obama’s initiative — the second installment of which is to be held in Seoul next year — will be rendered meaningless. If North Korea becomes a nuclear power, it will just signal to Iran and other countries with nuclear aspirations that a door has been opened. If discussions of nuclear development for self-defense gain traction between South Korea and Japan, an arms race could be triggered in Southeast Asia.

Passively anticipating the good faith of the Chinese or North Korea’s voluntary transformation will not curtail the nuclear designs of Kim Jong-il’s regime. When the American and Chinese presidents meet later this month, they need to call for the discontinuation of the North Korean nuclear program and resolutely demand that North Korea return to the six-party talks.