Better Than Nothing

Now that a deal has been struck with north korea on its nuclear weapons program, both the South Korean and U.S. governments have embarked on a hard sell. They claim that this new accord trumps the 1994 Agreed Framework negotiated by the Clinton Administration, and that it signals the beginning of a complete denuclearization of North Korea.

Unfortunately, it does neither. The current agreement simply brings us back to the position in which the Bush Administration criticized the Clinton team for leaving us: freezing and monitoring the Yongbyon facilities without ensuring their complete dismantlement. In fact, we are...