N.Korean nuclear threat manageable, ex-envoy says

Plain Dealer, Thursday, October 9, 2003

North Korea’s insistence on building nuclear weapons poses a risk to international security, but the situation is open to solution, a former diplomat and weapons expert told a Cleveland group yesterday.

Robert Gallucci, who served a the chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea during the 1994 nuclear crisis, told the Cleveland Council on World Affairs that North Korea may be trying to broker a deal that would bring security to the regime of Kim Jong II.

The present showdown cold be rooted in failed treaties between the two countries and the United States’ shift in foreign policy after Sept. 11, 2001.

Gallucci, now dean of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, spoke yesterday before an audience of 60 as part of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs’ World at Risk series.

Gallucci and North Korea has put together a “serious nuclear weapons program” that could capably yield more weapons- 30 a year- than programs in Israel, Pakistan and India.

North Korea’s progress could force South Korea and Japan to change their stances on nuclear weapons, altering the face of world security, Gallucci said. The delivery of nuclear warheads via a ballistic missile is also a concern, particularly for Japan and the United States, Gallucci said.

Another concern for the United States is North Korea’s willingness to sell nuclear material or missile technology.

“They are hungry, and the export virtually nothing else,” Gallucci said.

Sept. 11 changed relationships between the two countries. In seeking greater security, U.S. policymakers combined the threat of terrorism with the h thre4at of nuclear weapons proliferation, Gallucci said. The doctrine of pre-emptive war also complicated the matter.

“How can they be sure that the cannot be subjected to ‘regime change?’” Gallucci said.

Gallucci oversaw negotiations for the United States when it almost took up arms against North Korea in 1994. North Korea froze its programs in exchange for nuclear reactors- financed by the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union-which would be difficult to transform for military use.

North Korea grew increasingly unhappy with the deal, and the political relationship between the two countries never blossomed, Gallucci said.