NK Nukes Not Part of Negotiations

The North Korean nuclear negotiator has confirmed my prior suspicions that the North Koreans have no intention of giving up the nuclear weapons they currently have:

The remarks therefore suggest that the nuclear weapons Pyongyang has already built are not on the agenda at this stage, hinting that separate negotiations from the six-way framework will have to tackle them. That in turn suggests that the five countries — South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — have accepted North Korea’s position that the nuclear weapons themselves are not at issue in the talks, a position it has taken since a Sept. 19, 2005 statement of principles.

North Korea reiterated the position when it returned to the six-way talks in December. North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-kwan said in Beijing on Dec. 22 that the North wants to discuss the issue of nuclear weapons when it no longer feels threatened because the U.S. has ended its “hostile” policy toward the North and mutual trust has been built up. “

North Korea has no intent to give up their weapons.  They are just trying to get what they can from the international community without giving up the half dozen nukes they now possess.  These nuclear weapons ensure regime security from an outside attack; that is something more valuable to a dictator like Kim Jong-il than any incentive the international community could give to him.

While North Korea is trying to get what they can in these negotiations, the US side is trying to maneuver the negotiations to where the perception that is created when these talks ultimately fail, which they will, it will be clear that the North Koreans are the ones to blame.  I am very pessimistic about this because I think no matter how these negotiations fail the US both politically and in the media will be blamed even when it is not the US’s fault.

The list of critics to the current policy is growing now with the resignation of Robert Joseph from the State Department who advocated financially strangling the North Korean regime.  Keep in mind that John Bolton as well has come out strongly against the current Administration’s North Korea policy.

Only time will tell who is right.

You can read more over at DPRK Studies.