Saturday, April 12, 2008

North Korea had a Nuclear Program???

In a shocking story from North Korea, everyone's favorite rogue state has decided to acknowledge something that most of the world knew a long time ago: that they had a nuclear weapons program. They are doing this in a private report, but the Kyodo News of Japan caught word of it, so now it is not so private. The whole thing hinged on accepting two major US allegations that 1) they had a secret uranium enrichment program, and 2) they shared nuclear technology with Syria. These are two key allegations that North Korean officials have vehemently denied since the accusations were introduced.

This, along with the agreement from North Korea to get rid of their weapons program, has been seen as a huge diplomatic success for President George W. Bush, who is wanting to be remembered for not only something positive in his administration but also for something other than the Iraq War. The deals with North Korea seem to be one of the successes he has been desiring. In return, North Korea, if they continue to cooperate, will be taken off the US' list of states who sponsor terrorism. This is a huge step with relations considering where tensions were a few years ago. It seems as if there were many skeptics of deals with this magnitude actually taking place. Either way, it's kind of a big deal.

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