Beijing – After a tense weekend of heated debate within the Bush administration, the lead American negotiator with North Korea made one last call back to Washington and reluctantly signed a statement of principles that committed North Korea, in black and white, to give up “all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.”
But the vaguely worded agreement left unaddressed the date when disarmament would happen and hinted at a concession to North Korea that President Bush and his aides have long said they would never agree to: discussing “at an appropriate time” providing North Korea with a civilian nuclear power plant, which would keep that nation in the nuclear business.
All day Monday, the Bush administration said the appropriate time was after North Korea dismantled all its nuclear facilities and allowed full inspections.
On Monday evening, less than 24 hours after the deal was signed, North Korea declared that the United States “should not even dream” that it would dismantle its nuclear weapons before it receives a new nuclear plant.
As described by participants in the talks, Bush agreed to even discuss providing a nuclear plant only after China turned over a draft of an agreement and told the Americans they had hours to decide to take it or leave it.
The North Koreans – dependent on China for food and oil – were unhappy but ready to sign.
Several officials, who would not allow their names to be used, noted that Bush is also dealing with Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and is headed soon for another nuclear face-off with Iran.
The agreement, they said, provides him a way to forestall, at least for now, a confrontation with another member of what he once famously termed “the axis of evil.”
So, after two days of debates that reached from Bush’s cabin in Camp David to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s suite at the Waldorf Hotel in New York to Tokyo, Moscow, and Seoul, South Korea, Bush gave the go-ahead Sunday evening, once he had returned to the White House, to signing a preliminary accord with Kim Jong-Il, a leader he has said he detests.
The agreement has the potential to generate goodwill for North Korea, increase the aid it receives and possibly reduce its incentive to dismantle its nuclear programs any time soon.
“The risk of this agreement is exactly what many hawks in Washington had warned about,” said Peter Beck of the International Crisis Group in Seoul. “You reduce the sense of urgency and let people grow comfortable with the status quo.”
Proponents of the deal say such fears are misplaced.
All the benefits North Korea was promised, including economic aid, security commitments, a possible normalization of relations with the U.S., and a massive infusion of electricity from South Korea, will not flow until it rejoins the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and readmits international nuclear inspectors.