EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Oct. 13: Hope for real progress

The United States and North Korea have made a breakthrough in the communist country's stalled denuclearization process with Washington removing the North from its terrorism blacklist Saturday. In turn, the world's last Stalinist state agreed to a series of verification procedures involving its plutonium and uranium-based nuclear programs as well as nuclear proliferation.

We welcome North Korea withdrawing its threat to reassemble its disabled nuclear
facilities, while moving to return to the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
The threat came after the U.S. failed to take North Korea off its list of states
sponsoring terrorism on Aug. 11, 45 days after President George W. Bush notified
Congress of his plan to remove the country from the list. Regrettably, the plan
was delayed due to Pyongyang's rejection of the U.S. demand for a thorough and
complete verification mechanism for the North's declared nuclear activities.
The removal of North Korea from the terrorism list carries primarily symbolic
meaning because it will take the impoverished country a considerable period of
time to benefit from the de-listing. It is a necessary but not sufficient
condition for the dictatorial regime to gain access to aid from the International
Monetary Fund or other development institutions. However, it is apparent that the
North has much to gain politically from the American move.
Now, North Korea can shake off its stigma as a state sponsor of terrorism, more
than 20 years after it was put on the State Department's blacklist following its
bombing of a South Korean passenger jet over Myanmar in November 1987, killing
all 115 passengers on board.
Stressing the "action for action" formula, Pyongyang repeatedly resorted to its
notorious brinkmanship tactics and nuclear blackmailing. As for the verification
mechanism for its nuclear activities, it has received concessions from Washington
by forcing the U.S. negotiators to give up on their earlier demand for
unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities. Therefore, some critics raise
concerns that it may be difficult for international inspectors to conduct
verification of undeclared nuclear facilities, which will require consent from
both the North and the U.S. under the new agreement.
In this context, President Bush faces criticism for making too many concessions
to the North in his desperate effort to make a tangible achievement in nuclear
disarmament before his term ends next January. Republican presidential candidate
John McCain issued a statement Friday, expressing his opposition to removing
North Korean from the terrorism blacklist. McCain's position seems to reflect
conservatives' views against the conciliatory gestures by Bush who once branded
North Korea as part of an "axis of evil."
But, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took a different stance. He
described the new agreement on the verification measures as a "modest step" in
dismantling the North's nuclear weapons programs. There is little doubt that
North Korea has played for time in a bid to wait for a power transition in the
U.S. Whoever becomes the next American president, the North should sincerely make
good on its denuclearization commitments in order to move toward peace,
reconciliation and co-prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.