North Korea Renegs on Deal Already

Not that this is a surprise or anything but the Norks are already back pedaling on the deal they struck 24 hours ago:

The North Korean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday offered an idiosyncratic reading of Monday’s agreement, saying the country would rejoin the Non-Proliferation Treaty and come back into full IAEA compliance “when the U.S. provides us with a light-water reactor that can be the basis of bilateral confidence.”

It said Pyongyang was “fair and square, consistent and deep-rooted like a rock. The U.S. should not even dream of asking us to give up the nuclear deterrent we already have before providing a light-water nuclear reactor. That is the security of building bilateral confidence, physical security.” The statement of principles was understood to be merely envisaging “discussion” on the thorny issue that had threatened to scupper the talks.

The only thing surprising about this is that it occurred only one day after the original deal. The Norks want that reactor not for power but for when in the future they need to build nuclear weapons again to extort more international aid. The Norks want agreement that gives them the aid they want plus allows them to still have the capacity to make nuclear weapons in the future if needed. That is why they not only want a reactor but will never allow inspectors full access to their country, even though they are saying so now.

So in the mean time they will continue to bicker over this reactor until everyone else involved in the talks pressures the US to give them the reactor just to shut them up because the international community wants to see this issue go away. Hopefully the US doesn’t give in and work out a useless deal like the 1994 agreement just to make everyone in the region happy.

In the mean time the North Koreans will full fill their energy needs by getting free power from the South Koreans. The South however, is saying they will review the energy request now after yesterday’s developments. Just like we all knew the Norks would renege on the deal, we also all know the South Koreans will give into the North Koreans and give them the power anyway, along with fertilizer, food, etc. that they need.

How come I don’t see Unification Minister Chung Dong-young taking credit for this?