The Six-Nation Talks have been dragging for so long that there were several observers who were convinced that diplomatic procedures would prove a failure and only military intervention would impel North Korea to shut down its nuclear reactor. But diplomacy has indeed won the day and peace is beginning to spread its wings over the whole controversy.
On Wednesday, North Korea agreed to dismantle its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and also vowed to provide a detailed account of its nuclear ambitions by December 31, this year. Last week’s negotiations in Beijing involving China, Japan, Russia, the US and North and South Korea have finally yielded a sumptuous fruit and the work towards stretching the diplomatic agreement to more tangible success has already begun.
North Korea tested a nuclear weapon last year and immediately there was worldwide criticism of the action. US President George W Bush dubbed Kim Jong Ill-controlled country as an axis of evil and talks of waging a war on the economically insecure nation were riffed. Several times the Six-Nation talks broke down and pessimism was getting denser and denser.
According to the agreement signed in the Chinese capital, a team of US nuclear experts would reach North Korea in the next couple of weeks and the disabling process at the nuclear site would commence. The deal does come as a huge relief to international observers who have been scratching their heads all the time to try to find some solution.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Ill remains an unpopular figure in the international community. The dictator’s willingness to yield to international pressure and cease his nuclear ambitions might go to some distance in settling some credibility in is regime but the fact is that North Korea still remains a country stepped in poverty and economic chaos.
The disabling process will be a slow one and could take even months for completion. The final phase of the process is the surrendering of North Korea’s nuclear stockpile; but it doesn’t begin until February next year. There is a sense of relief and calm all around but the danger shall not pass until North Korea is declared as a nation without nuclear weapons.
Image Source: Yimg
Source: BBC
