North Korea's top nuclear negotiator is in New York today, meeting US officials on steps toward establishing diplomatic relations. In 2002, President Bush called North Korea part of his "Axis of Evil." He accused Pyongyang of breaking a 1994 deal made with the Clinton Administration that provided food and fuel oil in exchange for a freeze on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. After the President's accusations, the deal was off, and last October, North Korea tested a nuclear bomb. But last week, intelligence officials told the New York Times they not so sure what North Korea was really up to. Did mistakes in Washington lead hawks on both sides to escalate a dangerous confrontation? In the meantime, why does the US need to re-design its nuclear warheads?
North Korea and Nuclear Weapons
Credits
Guests:
- Joel Wit - Senior Fellow at Henry L Stimpson Center in Washington DC, founder of the website 38 North and a former U.S. diplomat - @Joel_Wit38
- Selig Harrison - Center for International Policy
- Al Carnesale - Expert on US foreign policy and international security
- David Sanger - Pulitzer Prize-winning White House and national security correspondent for the New York Times, author of “New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend The West” - @SangerNYT