Jaw Jaw
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
Has North Korea been persuaded to abandon its nuclear ambitions because it realised that it was getting nowhere or because after its missile testing other countries became really very anxious to talk? Perhaps we shall never know the answer, and as yet do not know if the eventual outcome will be a sustained success for the dialogue and agreement.
Yesterday, the Korean ambassador laid out the whole series of actions which are occurring under the agreement; it includes denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, normalisation of relations with Japan, and with the USA, economic and energy cooperation. The South Koreans are supplying fuel and fertiliser to the North.
Why did the Americans change tack and become more accommodating too? Pressure from the Chinese, or was it the trauma of Iraq? Whatever the reason, if we have moved back from the brink, this says something about patient diplomacy and persistence of objective. The moral of the story is clear elsewhere.