Clinton Administration Agrees to Resume Talks with North Korea

Following a mediation effort by former President Jimmy Carter, the Clinton administration has agreed to resume talks with North Korea next month in Geneva. This breakthrough comes after Pyongyang confirmed that it will not convert old fuel from its reactor into weapons-grade material. The North will also allow international inspectors and their cameras to verify the agreement. This development significantly eases tensions in Northeast Asia and marks a new opportunity to find a solution to the nuclear issue.

Key Takeaways:

• The Clinton administration has agreed to resume talks with North Korea next month in Geneva.
• Pyongyang has confirmed that it will not convert old fuel from its reactor into weapons-grade material.
• The North will not put new fuel into the reactor and will allow international inspectors and their cameras to verify all of this.
• The agreement follows a remarkable mediation effort by former President Jimmy Carter, who visited Pyongyang last week.
• U.S. officials say that if an overall agreement can be reached with North Korea, the North says it will fully comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would mean getting rid of its nuclear weapons capability.
• Besides the U.S.-North Korea talks, there's another possible negotiation that pleases President Clinton: the agreement between South Korea and North Korea to pursue a meeting between their presidents.
• The developments mark not a solution to the problem, but rather a new opportunity to find a solution.
• President Clinton's words of praise for Jimmy Carter stand in sharp contrast to the sniping from some administration officials last week, who portrayed the former president as "naive," "a man who had been duped."
• Jimmy Carter said he had proposed only what the administration wanted in his talks with Kim Il Sung and that he gave the North something it badly wanted: a direct communication with the only person who could make concessions.
• The North Koreans were waiting for treatment of their exalted leader with respect and a direct communication with President Kim Il Sung, who is highly revered in the unusual and strange society of North Korea.

Statistics:

• North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium already for one or two bombs as a result of earlier reprocessing.
• If an overall agreement can be reached with North Korea, the North will fully comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would mean getting rid of its nuclear weapons capability.
• The agreement follows a remarkable mediation effort by former President Jimmy Carter, who visited Pyongyang last week.

Sources:

• Ned Clark, NPR, "Clinton Agrees to Resume Talks with North Korea," April 10, 1994.
• President Bill Clinton, statement on North Korea talks, April 9, 1994.
• Jimmy Carter, CNN, "Talks with Kim Il Sung," April 9, 1994.
• U.S. officials, anonymous, "North Korea talks," April 9, 1994.