Col. Stanislav Lunev
Friday, Oct. 25, 2002

North Korea recently surprised the Bush administration by admitting that it has been working covertly for at least five years to develop the capability for enriching key components of nuclear weapons, using technology obtained from different nations.

Last week, President Bush called North Korea's admission that it operates a clandestine nuclear weapons program "troubling" but put off a decision on whether to continue honoring the U.S. obligations under a 1994 agreement that is a cornerstone of America's efforts to de-nuclearize the communist state.

This arrangement, known as the "Agreed Framework" and signed by the Clinton administration in October 1994, called upon Pyongyang to freeze construction and operation of nuclear reactors suspected of being part of a covert weapons program.

In exchange, the U.S. promised to build two civilian nuclear power plants for the communist country and supply it with fuel oil until the plants were completed.

At the time, the deal served to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula, which was on the brink of war. An international consortium called the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization is implementing the terms of the deal, and the U.S. now pays for the fuel oil, costing about $100 million each year.

South Korea, Japan and other countries are to pay about $4.5 billion to build the new power plants. The construction of the two nuclear reactors, the first of which initially was slated for completion in 2003, is far behind schedule and the reactors are not likely to be operational before 2008.

According to the deal, North Korea agreed to freeze operation of its 5-megawatt reactor and plutonium-reprocessing plant at Yongbyon and to halt construction of a 50-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon and a 200-megawatt plant at Taechon. These facilities are to be dismantled prior to completion of the second light-water reactor.

North Korea also agreed to remain a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and must come into "full compliance" with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and to allow international inspections of all nuclear facilities when a "significant portion of the project is completed, but before delivery of key nuclear components."

When the secret development of nuclear weapons in North Korea became known, Pyongyang officials at first denied the charges, but then stunned the U.S. delegation by admitting their clandestine nuclear program and adding that they had "other, more powerful things as well" or even more extensive arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.

North Korean officials said in conversations with the U.S. representatives that they had abandoned the 1994 agreement, saying that the U.S. had violated the deal's provisions.

However, there is no doubt that North Korea alone violated the Agreed Framework by developing its nuclear weapons and undermining nonproliferation efforts. Over at least the past five years, while the U.S. has implemented the agreement in good faith, the North Korean leaders have secretly subverted its provisions.

Under these circumstances Pyongyang's statements cannot be considered as reliable, particularly because of its long history of cheating on the international community.

For example, in 2000 North Korean "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il told Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country would halt its ballistic missile program in exchange for help from the West in launching North Korean space satellites. But in a few days, when Putin began to promote this idea internationally, in order to demonstrate Kim's "peaceful intentions," North Korea's dictator said that his statement was nothing but a "joke."

Also, it can't be a surprise for Washington that Pyongyang's leaders have long been known to sell North Korea's weapons and military-related technologies to rogue nations and other elements hostile to America. However, development of North Korea's nuclear weapons and "other, more powerful things" is extremely dangerous and has to be stopped as soon as possible.

Col. Stanislav Lunev is the highest-ranking Soviet military intelligence officer ever to defect from Russia. Read his gripping story, Through the Eyes of the Enemy.

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