Countdown in Korea; Strategic Insights v.2, no.5, May 2003
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Authors
Huntley, Wade L.
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Advisors
Date of Issue
2003-05
Date
May 2003
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
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Abstract
North Korea's surprise admission last October to a secret nuclear weapons program based on uranium enrichment triggered a cascading breakdown of the 1994 Agreed Framework structure that had kept North Korea's more advanced plutonium-based nuclear program in check. By year's end North Korea had expelled United Nations inspectors and removed monitoring equipment at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and begun preparations to restart its plutonium reprocessing facility. This twin proliferation danger surpasses even the apex of the 1993-4 North Korean crisis that nearly triggered a U.S. military attack. The Bush administration's de facto policy of hostile neglect toward North Korea has contributed to this crisis. Although North Korea's uranium-based program began well before the Bush team took office, the administration bears some responsibility for inciting acceleration of this program and for fostering the fragile conditions under which the program's revelation quickly precipitated a complete breakdown of U.S.-North Korea relations. Unfortunately, even as administration supporters have acknowledged the need for a new approach, there remains insufficient appreciation that the deficiency of the current administration's posture has been as much neglect as hostility.
Type
Article
Description
This article appeared in Strategic Insights (May 2003), v.2 no.5
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Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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NPS Report Number
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Citation
Strategic Insights, v.2, issue 5 (May 2003)
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.