Cato Scholar Comments on North Korea's Declaration Concerning its Nuclear Program

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studiestcarpenter@cato.org:

North Korea has finally sent its long-delayed declaration concerning its nuclear program to China. In response, President Bush has announced that the United States will remove North Korea from the State Department's list of states that sponsor terrorism and will lift some of the economic sanctions imposed against the regime. Both Pyongyang's declaration and Washington's response are modestly worthwhile steps that maintain the momentum in the diplomatic process aimed at getting North Korea to end its effort to acquire a nuclear arsenal. But one must be realistic about that diplomatic process; the declaration itself apparently contains some major holes. Pyongyang has not been required to disclose whether it has already built nuclear weapons, and there is no provision for international inspections to determine whether North Korea has constructed nuclear sites other than the known reactor at Yongbyon. It is also important to remember that the North Korean regime has violated every previous agreement it has signed on nuclear issues. Given that record, there remains a very real danger that Pyongyang is engaging in a diplomatic charade while it continues a quest for a nuclear-weapons capability. There is also the worrisome evidence of North Korea's proliferation activities, including its apparent transfer of nuclear-related technology to Syria. At best, the new developments deserve no more than one-and-a-half cheers.

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