N Korea agrees disarmament steps





article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6356481.stm

After so many years, North Korea has finally promised to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid. This is the first steps of nuclear disarmament which is a good sign for the entire world. When Pyongyang held an atomic test last October, it caused much uproar to countries such as the United States and many more. Now, US and Japan have pledged to begin talks with North Korea on building closer ties.

There are two main factors of this article that I would like to discuss. Firstly, this nuclear disarmament is only the FIRST phase of denuclearization. North Korea only agreed to shut down its nuclear reactor (located in Yongbyon) in return for 50,000 metric tons of fuel aid or economic aid of equal value. Thus, they have not reached the discussion of what will happen to the nuclear weapons that North Korea already possess. Despite this, the US has agreed to remove North Korea from its list of terror states and establish diplomatic relations. Also, Japan will discuss normalizing relations with North Korea. However, I feel that the trade of shutting down the nuclear reactor for 50,000 tons of fuel is too much to exchange. North Korea has not even talked about shutting down nuclear weapons which is the main target that the US wants to achieve. Although I agree that shutting down North Korea’s nuclear reactor would be the first steps to success, “North Korea should not be rewarded with massive shipments of heavy fuel oil for only partially dismantling its nuclear arsenal”, said by John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations.

Secondly, North Korea would have to follow all the terms in the deal, which they are not very good in doing by looking at the history books. The previous deal which was agreed in September 2005, collapsed because of differences between North Korea and the US over the implementation of the deal. Prominent US figures voiced their views. Mr Snow hailed the deal but sounded a note of caution. "If they don't abide by the terms, they don't get the benefits they desire," he said. Hence, if North Korea do not carry out the processes written in the deal, the deal would collapse, again. And all the three years of talks would all come down to nothing.

In conclusion, I feel that this is a good sign of progress towards denuclearizing North Korea and would definitely help bring relationships between various countries closer. However, the huge amount of fuel exchanged for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor is too much to ask for and if North Korea do not fulfill the terms of the deal, it would all come back to square one, where nothing is achieved. Right now, all the US can do is try to persuade the North Korea delegates and hope that the deal would go smoothly and result in great success in the future.