North Korea Has Agreed To Shut Down Its Nuclear Program. Is He Really Ready to Disarm?

For all its pomp and circumstance--the police-escorted limousines, the grand conference rooms, the hordes of assistants and aides--international diplomacy can be a grind. For three years, Christopher Hill had sought a deal to disarm North Korea, only to be frustrated at every turn. But in the early hours of Feb. 13, that changed. Shortly before 3 a.m., the U.S. negotiator returned to his hotel room in Beijing with a deal in hand, thanks to arm twisting of North Korea by the Chinese. "They kept us up late," Hill said later. He wasn't the only one losing sleep. His boss, Secretary of State...