What's Behind North Korea's Nuclear Power Play

From Time Magazine:

Negotiating styles can tell you a lot about the party you're sitting across from. Some people bang the table. Some get up and walk out. Some are passive-aggressive, staying at the table but never letting things move forward.

Not the North Koreans. When they're angry, they let you know about it in a very big way — as they did this week by reneging on a deal struck with five other nations to rid themselves of their nuclear weapons and their ability to make them.

Make no mistake: Pyongyang is pissed. In return for North Korea dismantling its nuclear program, the U.S. and its negotiating partners (South Korea, Japan, China and Russia) agreed to provide an array of diplomatic and economic benefits, including a proviso that North Korea be removed from Washington's list of state sponsors of terror. In late June, after the North finally forked over a long-delayed inventory of its nuclear materiel and bomb-making equipment, the U.S. indicated that it would reciprocate after a 45-day review. Those 45 days have come and gone, and still the North remains on the list.

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My Comment: When former President Reagan was negotiating with the Soviets on nuclear missile issues, his favorite phrase was ..... "trust but verify". The North Koreans are adopting the same tactics of the Soviets .... but in the end the Soviets came to their senses .... permitting legitimate inspection protocals. Will North Korea also? .... I personally have doubts.