North Korean Breakthrough

It is all over the newspages today that there has been an agreement in principle for North Korea to drop its nuclear weapons arsenal and programs. The deal was largely brokered by China (another sign of its growing soft power) but could not have come into force without concessions made by the United States and the DPRK. Under the terms of the deal, the North will give up its current stockpile (believed to be around 13 nuclear weapons), open the country to IAEA inspectors, and re-sign the NPT. The United States, for its part, acknowledged that it does not have nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula and concedes to the DPRK's right to have nuclear energy. It is likely that a light-water reactor will be provided to the Koreans to ensure that it is not utilized for devious purposes.

It's interesting because I was just having a discussion with a friend last night about what will happen in the next three years for Bush. I was saying that three years is a lifetime in politics and that it is possible that by then Iraq, Iran, and North Korea could all see their predicaments resolved. He didn't believe me. Well, we're a third of the way there, and this new diplomatic breakthrough could have a spill-over effect into the negotiations with Tehran.