Was North Korea faced to make a deal?

It is strange that food shortages and economic problems would force a deal now. North Korea has had these problems for years and still carried on with a nuclear program. Perhaps it is the sanctions against luxury goods that has hurt the Great Leader's penchant for Western Luxury Goods.


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North Korea likely forced into nuclear deal: envoy
Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:04AM EST
By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea was probably pushed to take a deal to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for aid because of its faltering economy and limited diplomatic options, a senior South Korean official said on Friday.

In a breakthrough deal, impoverished North Korea agreed this week to seal its main nuclear reactor and the source of its weapons-grade plutonium in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel or economic aid of equivalent value.

"I think they may have exhausted all the cards they had with the nuclear test," South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told a forum. "Considering how difficult the North's economy and its energy situation are, they would have to think long and hard before giving up on this scale of benefits."

Following decades of military build-up and nuclear development, North Korea said last October that it had conducted its first nuclear test.

But its industries are in tatters and its agricultural production falls short of feeding its people. The reclusive communist state has long relied on ally China and neighbor South Korea for aid.

Multiple missile launches in July and then the October nuclear test angered China, prompting Pyongyang's biggest benefactor to join U.N. Security Council trade and financial sanctions on the North and briefly cut off crucial energy aid.

South Korea, a key donor of food and fertilizer, suspended that aid last year after the missile tests.

Chun said South Korea had no qualms over footing the bill for the first 50,000 tonnes of fuel under the Tuesday deal.

"Paying for it first doesn't mean we'll be paying more, so even from a symbolic point of view, I think it's appropriate for us to pay first," he said.

If Pyongyang shuts down and seals its Yongbyon facility within 60 days, energy-hungry North Korea would receive another 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil, or equivalent aid, when it takes further steps to disable its nuclear capabilities.

The deal also calls on North Korea to make a complete disclosure of all its nuclear facilities, including the disputed existence of a highly enriched uranium program.

Chun said Pyongyang was content to get U.S. agreement to discuss the state of ties between the two countries, and it would involve reciprocal visits by Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang's envoy, and U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill to each other's capitals.


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