HONOLULU -- The agreement on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula reached Monday in Beijing was "one small step for man." It is, however, premature to call it a "giant leap for mankind." The agreement provides a template for working toward a solution to the denuclearization problem; it is not yet a road map, and leaves critical questions unanswered.
Most significantly, if Pyongyang is indeed sincere, it represents the "strategic decision" long insisted upon by Washington as the first step in the process: the agreement by North Korea to abandon "all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs" and return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
In return, Pyongyang will get much needed economic and energy assistance and a discussion by the other parties "at an appropriate time" of the subject of providing light-water reactors (LWRs) to the North. Most importantly for Pyongyang, it acknowledges a sequential approach. The denuclearization agreement will be accomplished in "a phased manner in line with the principle of "commitment for commitment, action for action."' It also asserts that Washington "has no intention to attack or invade the DPRK with nuclear or conventional weapons."