Nuclear Negotiations in North Korea

One of the most pressing national security challenges that President Obama will confront is how to successfully manage nuclear negotiations with North Korea. For over two decades – spanning Democrat and Republican presidencies – Washington has struggled to compel Pyongyang to “come clean” and denuclearize. Despite nearly two decades of negotiations with the DPRK that have forced diplomats to frantically criss-cross the globe, there has not yet been a comprehensive and systematic analysis of nuclear negotiations with North Korea.

Due to the opacity of the North Korean regime, significant questions remain unanswered about how to design an effective negotiating strategy. Previous discussions have been complicated by the sheer multitude of issues that are now intertwined with the nuclear situation in North Korea, including Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program, outward proliferation (e.g. Syria), human rights, the status of conventional forces, unresolved historical disputes amongst regional actors, and security in Northeast Asia. Additionally, the question of sequencing continues to challenge policymakers – how should we approach the various issues at hand? Previous agreements have been modeled on a phased implementation framework, but have often been stalled by the perennial question of “who moves first”. Getting the right people to the table is also an integral component of the success of any negotiation. In the past, the U.S. has utilized both bilateral and multilateral mechanisms with varying degrees of success. The Obama administration will have to consider the proper structural framework for moving forward.

Carefully considering the role these issues have played in past negotiations will be critical for the success of the new administration‘s approach to North Korea policy. Future negotiations must therefore bear the imprints of lessons learned from the achievements and setbacks of the past. It is with this in mind that the Center for a New American Security is undertaking a project to understand the lessons learned from previous nuclear negotiations with North Korea.