General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm going to be in the minority here re NK but... [View all]Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)After North Korea announced its withdrawal from the IAEA in June of 1994, Jimmy Carter went in as our negotiator. He met with President Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il's father) and was the first person to cross the DMZ in 43 years. Their talks went well, since President Carter treated him with respect - and he was treated with respect because of his knowledge and experience with nuclear engineering. Not only did Kim Il Sung agree to freeze their nuclear program and resume talks with the US - a dialog that continued with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - but that agreement established a three-stage process for the elimination of North Koreas nuclear weapons program. In return, the United States promised to move toward normalized economic and diplomatic relations and agreed to provide assistance with the construction of proliferation-resistant LWRs to replace North Koreas graphite-moderated reactors.
Kim Il Sung died soon after that meeting, but his son agreed to abide by that agreement which held through Clinton's term as long as the US continued the "respect" that Jimmy Carter had promised. But there was a new tone after George W Bush* took office and relations began falling apart - culminating in Bush*'s "axis of evil" comments in 2002.
Negotiations with volatile regimes like this are incredibly sensitive - something President Carter knew and understood. And an experienced SOS like Madeleine Albright was certainly aware of. But now we have an administration that has managed to insult and alienate even our oldest and closest allies. I fear for our future - and the future of the world - as long as we're being represented by those without diplomacy, knowledge and a sense of history.