korean unification studies

Kenneth Quinones, former US State Department North Korea specialist, has a very interesting piece comparing the ‘freeze’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Clinton administration sought and the ‘disablement’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Bush administration is seeking. Here is a taste:

In November 1994, I accompanied the first U.S. delegation to visit the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center. As soon as the Agreed Framework had been signed on October 21, 1994, I was directed, as the North Korea Affairs officer, to arrange for a group of American officials and scientists to visit North Korea at the earliest possible time…Once the two sides had agreed upon a general outline of the procedures for the “freeze”, I was put in charge of implementing the agreement. This required that I live and work, together with a small number of American technicians, at the Yongbyon nuclear facility for six months in 1995: January, June, July, August, September and October. This experience enables me to compare the Bush Administration’s “disablement” with the Clinton Administration’s “freeze” of nuclear activities at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility, located approximately 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

The Bush Administration’s efforts during the past seven years thus far have accomplished no more than the Clinton Administration’s eighteen months of negotiations accomplished. The difference is that at the end of the eighteen months, the Clinton Administration had a comprehensive agreement with North Korea to end its nuclear program. The Bush Administration, while to be commended for having finally given up its futile coercive tactics and all or nothing goal, is still striving to forge a negotiated end to North Korea’s nuclear programs.

The article is part of the IFES Policy Forum series and is well worth a read!!!