North Korea
Resumption of the six-party talks (December 2006). AP photo.
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CENTER EXPERT
Leonor Tomero
Director for Nuclear Non-Proliferation
202-546-0795 ext.119
ltomero AT armscontrolcenter DOT org
Negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program have followed a long and difficult road. Talks between the United States and North Korea aimed at establishing a non-nuclear Korean peninsula first began in 1991, but it was not until 1994 that the "Agreed Framework" was finally established for ending the country's nuclear weapons pursuits. The Agreed Framework remained in place until 2002, when a coterie of U.S. officials visited North Korea and reported that the country had initiated a second covert nuclear weapons program and was actively enriching uranium. In early 2003, North Korea declared its withdrawal from the NPT.
In August 2003, North Korea announced that it would participate in six-party talks with the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan to resolve the crisis. On September 19, 2005, the six-party talks finally achieved a "Statement of Principles" which declared that North Korea would terminate its nuclear programs, return to the NPT, and accept IAEA safeguards in exchange for security assurances from the United States.
Experts presently believe that North Korea has produced enough fissile material for between 5 and 12 nuclear weapons. North Korea's detonation of a nuclear device on October 9, 2006 is widely considered to have been a technical failure and the country does not yet possess the ability to install nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles. Nonetheless, Pyongyang has declared itself a nuclear state, becoming the eighth country to do so.
Under intense international pressure, the North Koreans agreed to return to the six-party talks, which were reconvened in December 2006. Under a new agreement, announced in February 2007, North Korea pledged to suspend its nuclear programs within 60 days and allow inspectors back into the country in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel.
Implementation of the February 2007 agreement, however, was held up when Pyongyang remained unable to access $25 million in frozen assets. With this banking issue now resolved, the North Koreans signaled a renewed willingness to continue with the denuclearization process by inviting IAEA officials to Pyongyang to discuss terms for new inspections and by announcing that it would shut down its reactors at Yongbyon.
ADDITIONAL READING
- Full Text of the February 2007 Nuclear Agreement with North Korea.
- Full Text of October 2007 Nuclear Agreement with North Korea for "Second-Phase Actions."
- Institute for Science and International Security, "North Korea's Plutonium Declaration: A Starting Point for an Initial Verification Process," released January 10, 2008.
- Congressional Research Service, "North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Latest Developments," updated December 5, 2007.
- BBC timeline of key events in the North Korea nuclear stand-off.