A Moment to Seize with North Korea

Last Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a statement indicating his willingness to return to six-nation talks and reverse his nuclear program. In this commentary for The Washington Post, Donald Gregg and Don Oberdorfer analyze the import of Kim's message. According to the authors, Kim's statements present "a golden opportunity to take the US offers to the one and only person in North Korea who has any power of decision." They believe that the North Korean leader is responding to pressure from the US and his Asian neighbors, and they advise the Bush administration to respond positively. Instead of considering stronger measures that "promise only greater confrontation and growing danger on all sides," they write, Washington should send representatives to reopen negotiations and avert further crisis. – YaleGlobal