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N Korea pushes for normalized US ties
SEALED WITH A KISS:
A recent exchange of letters between the leaders of the US and North Korea led Pyongyang to agree to follow through on its denuclearization promise
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, WASHINGTON
Sunday, Dec 16, 2007, Page 4
Responding to a recent letter from US President George W. Bush, North Korea agreed on Friday to follow through on its pledge to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, provided the US reciprocates by normalizing relations between the countries.
Bush said on Friday that his initial letter, which was delivered by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, on Dec. 5, achieved its purpose.
"I got his attention with a letter and he can get my attention by fully disclosing his programs, including any plutonium he may have processed and converted some of that into whatever he's used it for. We just need to know," Bush said after a Cabinet meeting. "As well, he can get our attention by fully disclosing his proliferation activities."
North Korea agreed in October to dismantle all of its nuclear facilities and to disclose all of its past and present nuclear programs by the end of the year in return for 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil or its equivalent in economic aid.
That agreement has come under fierce criticism from national security hawks, in part because it does not require North Korea to turn over its existing stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and any nuclear warheads it may already have produced.
But many foreign policy experts point to it as a rare diplomatic success for Bush in a period that has been dominated by frustration in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East.
Also see: Optimism about North Korea is sadly misguided
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