Is North Korea Hoodwinking the US?
Is the North Korean nuclear threat really softening? Remembering that North Korea is famous for extracting financial concessions in nuclear negotiations, Stephan Haggard of the University of California and Marcus Noland of the Peterson Institute argue that the US is simply being hoodwinked again. They warn that since the US-led sanctions, the North Korean economy has suffered and needs the financial benefits of a nuclear deal to survive; reason enough for playing nice in nuclear talks—or at least pretending to. Last week at the APEC summit in Australia, North Korea invited inspectors from the United States, China, and Russia to begin the nuclear disablement process. What is certain is that the North Koreans won’t bargain away the nuclear program, their one major asset, without presenting a big bill.
