YONHAP NEWS

U.S. should 'front-load' future nuclear deal with N. Korea: think tank

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- The United States should press for a "front-loaded" denuclearization deal with North Korea when the communist state returns to negotiations that have centered on incremental approaches, a leading U.S. think tank said this week.

   "Back-loading makes agreements easier to attain, but harder to maintain through the difficult later stages," the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) said in a report seen on Wednesday. The Washington-based group was co-founded by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

   "Negotiate for a front-loaded agreement, which includes significant early actions," it said, adding the U.S should "strongly consider walking away" if the North refuses to conform.

   "While the action-for-action concept seems sensible, its implementation has been disappointing," CNAS said in the report based on interviews with over 50 ranking U.S. and South Korean officials and observers.

   North Korea, which conducted its second nuclear test in May this year, has in recent months retracted its boycott of nuclear negotiations and signaled willingness to return to the talks with the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.

   The six-nation talks had led to a 2007 deal in which the North agreed to the dismantlement of its nuclear program, beginning with the disablement of three of its atomic facilities in return for fuel aid and steps toward normalized relations with the U.S.

   But the accord left out North Korea's uranium enrichment program for further negotiations.

   "Because of the deep and abiding suspicions that permeate U.S.-DPRK (North Korea) relations, each party is reluctant to fulfill its end of the deal," CNAS said. "The nature of the steps each side wants the other to take exacerbates this crisis of confidence."

   The report -- co-authored by Abraham Denmark, Zachary Hosford and Michael Zubrow -- comes as the U.S. announced this week its point man on North Korea will fly to Pyongyang by the end of the year to jump-start the six-nation talks.

   CNAS proposed that the U.S. offer security and political arrangements up front for major concessions by the North, such as the handing of its uranium enrichment program.

   "Because America's most significants steps are more reversible than those it desires from Pyongyang, the United States can more easily withdraw its concessions if the DPRK refuses to implement its side of the agreement," it said.

   South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in September that a "grand bargain" should be pursued, calling for a "one-shot deal" that can put an end to the sometimes derailed and sometimes on-track pattern of negotiations with North Korea.

   A senior Pentagon official said last month that "the old approach of trying in small increments" is seriously flawed.

   "Limited agreements are costly and risky," CNAS said. "Without fundamental changes to this patter, or the U.S.-DPRK relationship, it is unlikely Pyongyang will eliminate its entire nuclear program."

   samkim@yna.co.kr
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