Progress on improving relations with North Korea has stalled, and that could prove to be unfortunate. The Bush administration has finally found the right track, but it appears that the North Korean regime is putting the brakes on, with Pyongyang last week blaming the United States for a deadlock in nuclear arms talks.

The North's attitude, however, is unlikely to help its cause.

One big complication is the South Korean presidential election; even though it took place last December, the new president, Lee Myung Bak, won't be sworn in until Feb. 25. He is the first conservative president after two liberal predecessors, but although he has promised to be more blunt about the North's shortcomings, he is unlikely to steer a major change in course. South Koreans are understandably terrified by the prospect of a collapse in the North, which would have untold economic consequences in their country. They are going to continue engaging the regime of Kim Jong Il.

The North Korean regime, nevertheless, may have decided to wait and let Mr. Lee show his cards.

On denuclearization, the North was supposed to provide a full declaration of its programs by Dec. 31, but as many expected, it hasn't altogether complied. The North is quite clearly intent on improving relations with the United States, but again may be waiting to see how American politics plays out before moving forward. In fact, those pushing a softer line toward North Korea are in the ascendancy in Washington, and the very real risk that Mr. Kim is taking is that they won't stay that way for long.

Moreover, it's not necessarily the case that a Democrat in the White House next year would take an easier line with Pyongyang than the outgoing Bush administration, which is eager to salvage a foreign policy success to weigh against Iraq.

It's a game, certainly. The likelihood of an armed conflict in Korea has receded considerably. The wary jockeying that's going on now doesn't come close to taking Korea to the precipice - but it does run the risk of sapping momentum toward normalization. If the process bogs down, that would leave North Korea a more or less permanently unstable country, which does no one any good.

It's up to the North Korean government to realize this; stalling may seem to be a clever tactic, but it's a bad strategy.