Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow Robert Manning writes a letter to the editor to the Washington Post on why progress is unlikely if the Six-Party Talks are restarted with North Korea:
Mitchel B. Wallerstein’s Dec. 20 op-ed, “The price of neglecting North Korea,” was emblematic of a growing chorus of Cassandras. Mr. Wallerstein was rightly concerned that as Pyongyang continues to stockpile fissile material, build nuclear weapons and develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) delivery system, it will pose a threat the United States cannot ignore. But having worked on the vexing North Korean problem for the past 25 years, I believe President Obama’s approach represents signs of a healthy learning curve.
North Korea has been seeking to develop nuclear weapons since the late 1970s. The nation revised its constitution, defining itself as a nuclear state. It has an arsenal of multifaceted missiles and isdeveloping a mobile ICBM that could reach the United States. But it has yet to demonstrate the ability to manage a deliverable missile , let alone hit a target.