U.S. "Buyout" of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Effort: A Blueprint or a Mistake?
Abstract
"North Korea Pact Contains U.S. Concessions -- Agreement Would Allow Presence of Key Plutonium-Making Facilities for Years." Such were the headlines on the front page of The Washington Post on October 19, 1994. These headlines and the accompanying article reflected negatively on an agreement concerning North Korea's nuclear program. The need to limit North Korean nuclear capability is an important issue on many levels. Whether or not North Korea either has or is close to having nuclear weapons has grave repercussions for regional stability in terms of the immediate threat to South Korea and the United States. A nuclear armed North Korea would also upset the current regional balance in East Asia sufficiently to cause Japan, prominent among others, to rethink its security needs. Additionally, the temptation for economically strapped North Korea to gain hard currency through the sale of nuclear materials or weapons to currently non-nuclear states is all too real, with global consequences. While it appears obvious that denying a nuclear weapons capability to North Korea is in the United States' best interests, it is not obvious that this agreement will accomplish that feat. Over and above North Korea's capabilities, the recent agreement has implications of its own, the most notable, in the author's view, being that it may set a precedent for future nonproliferation efforts. Has the United States sent a signal to other states with the potential to make nuclear weapons that they can bargain for great gain before agreeing to internationally accepted limits, controls, and inspections? In this paper, the author looks at this watershed accord between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK); its history, its substance, and the controversy surrounding its implications. He also sets forth some thoughts on the accord's ramifications for U.S. nonproliferation policy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA441051
Entities
People
- Thomas E. Stickford
Organizations
- National War College