The Troubled North Korea Deal

From The New York Times:

The hard-won nuclear deal with North Korea seems to be unraveling after a hopeful period in which the North shuttered its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and dramatically blew up the cooling tower.

Workers stopped dismantling the complex last month, after the United States failed to take North Korea off the terrorism list — a step toward diplomatic rehabilitation. Now technicians at Yongbyon are preparing to restart a plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, is notoriously erratic, and there are reports that he may be seriously ill, raising doubts about who is calling the shots. It has never been clear whether Pyongyang really meant to give up all of its weapons.

In this case, the Bush administration bears much of the blame.

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My Comment: Typical of the New York Times .... it blames everything on the Vice President. What kills this deal is the problem of verification, and the fact that the North Koreans do not want foreigners to snoop around their military facilities.

The Strategy Page has a more accurate assessment of North Korea. Their recent post "Secrets, Lies And The Politics Of Hunger" is a must here.