Rivalry between North and South Korea is predictably bedeviling follow-up negotiations on the Washington-Pyongyang agreement to freeze North Korea's menacing nuclear-weapons program.
The United States tried but failed to persuade its ally, South Korea, to forgo insisting that two light-water reactors destined for North Korea as a key part of the deal be listed specifically as of South Korean origin. When confronted with the "ROK" (Republic of Korea) initials of its enemy, North Korea threatened to cancel the whole pact.
Is this grounds for despair? No. For irritation? Yes. For huge doses of patience ? Of course.
On the same day the Pyongyang regime was putting up its stop sign, it was putting out its welcome mat for a delegation of U.S. businessmen as part of its celebration of the 53rd birthday of its reclusive new leader, Kim Jong-il. It had also submitted a request for up to $1 billion in U.S. aid not cited in the nuclear agreement to pay for electric grid improvements needed when the reactors go into operation. The request was described as both "outrageous" and "typical" in official channels.
It is characteristic of North Korea to be difficult and threatening before its intrinsic economic weakness forces accommodation. Thus, in the end, it may accept an American label on a South Korean reactor as a face-saver. The current problem, however, goes beyond tactics and exposes the raw-nerve issue in the nuclear negotiations: the bitter enmity between the two Koreas. Both nations constantly strive for advantage over one another, to the exclusion of all other considerations except, perhaps, their fear of Japan. As the nuclear agreement is played out, this will be a constant thorn for U.S. officials who have much wider regional and global responsibilities.
For the moment, Washington has to keep its eye on April 21, the date when the nuclear reactor contract is due to go into effect. It also has to consider the May deadline for extension of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty, with the Korea question lurking in the background, and the October date for scheduled delivery to North Korea of its next shipment of fuel oil to make up the energy lost by the shutdown of its current reactor.
Pyongyang's obstreperous conduct may trigger more Republican opposition to the Clinton administration's attempt to head off a military confrontation with North Korea. But GOP leaders in Congress have clearly signaled they will accept the agreement unless, paradoxically, a need for further appropriations forces them to play an overt role. Then will come the time for Republican posturing comparable to what is coming from the two Koreas.
Maneuvering aside, it is vitally important to keep the nuclear agreement on track since the possible alternatives of renewed war on the Korean peninsula and open defiance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty are unacceptable.