By Arthur I. Cyr
Scripps Howard News Service
North Korea's decision last year to open nuclear facilities to inspection so far has proven to be more than just another move in the endless game of diplomatic chicken pursued by that rogue regime.
Kim Sook, South Korea's chief negotiator, has just announced Pyongyang is expected to destroy a portion of the nuclear installation at Yongbyong as a goodwill gesture.
Kim has been in Washington for tripartite discussions involving Japan as well as South Korea and the U.S. This is a prelude to the anticipated resumption of six-nation negotiations, which also include China and Russia with North Korea.
The high stakes involved are self-evident. The 1950-53 Korean War took an estimated one million lives, brought direct combat between American and Chinese forces, and devastated the Korean Peninsula.
In U.S. politics, the conflict demolished public support for the Truman administration and fed anti-communist hysteria. The war solidified and reinforced the global great-power division termed the Cold War.
This time, two developments in the wider context of the Korean crisis and accord are distinctive. First, international financial pressure spearheaded by the United States clearly has been instrumental in forcing flexibility on the rigid communist regime.
Last year, the Bush administration declared Banco Delta Asia (BDA), based in Macau, a renegade institution assisting illegal financial activities by Pyongyang. U.S. businesses were banned from dealing with BDA, and others followed suit. Macau government authorities froze $25 million in North Korean funds.
Washington then offered to facilitate return of the funds to Pyongyang in return for nuclear flexibility. The transfer reportedly was carried out with assistance from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the central bank of Russia and a small private Russian bank, the Far East Commercial Bank.
Second, current promising developments occur just after Washington publicly confirmed with persuasive photographic evidence that North Korea has been assisting Syria in constructing a nuclear facility. An Israeli air strike destroyed the installation last September.
Last month, the CIA provided the U.S. Congress with details about the long-distance nuclear collaboration between Damascus and Pyongyang.
For Pyongyang to make mischief in the Middle East while undertaking positive diplomatic moves closer to home is not surprising.
Over the past months, North Korea has also launched nuclear-capable missiles in the direction of Japan, hated former colonial master. Raising tensions in the midst of diplomatic contact has been standard practice for North Korea, generating the game-of-chicken analogy.
The apparent inconsistencies also may reflect strong disagreements within North Korea's government, which confronts very serious long-term economic problems, including periodic famine. Cracks in the rigid totalitarian regime could facilitate efforts to reach an agreement.
The promising nuclear atmosphere also has highlighted Bush administration infighting. President Bush has made clear his very strong support for the six-party talks, which represents a victory for the State Department.
Bluntly rejecting criticism of the collective approach by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and other neoconservatives, Bush has underscored the importance of involving ``more than one voice.''
Last week, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill complemented Kim's encouraging statement by predicting a `quickening pace' in talks with the North.
President Bush's praise of multilateral diplomacy, and the importance of allies, has particular resonance in Asia, where South Korea, China, Japan and Russia along with the U.S. have played roles in the current breakthrough. The Korean Peninsula may provide the Bush administration with a major diplomatic success.
Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College and author of ``After the Cold War'' (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan). He can be reached at acyr@carthage.edu. The above article is distributed by Scripps Howard News Service (www.shns.com).