Recently, North Korea came to the United States asking for 240,000 tonnes of food aid and in exchange the country said it would suspend its uranium enrichment and nuclear/long-range missile tests. In a foreign ministry statement released Wednesday, North Korea said they were “aimed at building confidence for the improvement of relations” between the two countries. North Korea was also willing to allow UN inspectors to monitor the country’s reactor to make sure compliance was met. The White House spokesman Jay Carney saw North Korea’s plea as a first step into denuclearisation of the country. Although the United States is open to talks with North Korea and see this as an opportunity, there is still much speculation that North Korea might have more then one uranium enrichment facility. A similar food aid agreement has been reached before in 2005 when North Korea was again facing an extreme food shortage. In order to receive food North Korea had to stop the nuclear program. However, this agreement was short-lived when North Korea broke the deal in 2009. Looking forwards, bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table is definitely seen as progress and with a new leader there is an opportunity for change. It will be interesting to compare how China and the United States will react to North Korea’s plea and if these talks will provide the United States with a new strategic relationship when looking at a possible future containment strategy of China.
To read more:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-17215805
-Kathleen Fultz
