What’s the deal with North Korea?

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Diplomats from five capitals emerged in Beijing this week with what appears to be a  long-awaited deal with North Korea. The trade-off? In the first 60 days, North Korea would give up its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in exchange for roughly 50,000 tons of fuel oil, or its equivalent in economic aid (Passport will have more on the specifics later today). The agreement comes exactly four months and four days after North Korea’s groundbreaking nuclear test. Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill, who seems to have won over some fans in China, called the breakthrough “a very solid step forward.”

Not everyone sees it that way. John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has been the most vocal critic, saying that he would be the “saddest man in Washington” were President Bush to follow through on the agreement. To Bolton, among others, the deal is nothing more than a reward for Pyongyang’s intransigence, a Pyhrric victory that comes three years, eight nuclear bombs, and one nuclear test too late.

So which is it? For this week’s Seven Questions, we asked Robert Gallucci, dean of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the diplomat who signed the 1994 accord with North Korea, to weigh in with his thoughts on this very early agreement. His take? 

We now are in a situation where we’re saying, “OK, we’ll go step by step with [North Korea]. We’ll provide some of the benefits you want, and you’ll provide some of the restraint that we want.” So we are on a track now that could lead to the ultimate dismantlement of their nuclear weapons programs. It’s a new and better position to be in.

Check out the entire interview here.