Nuclear Stalemate

As the third round of talks on North Korea's nuclear program ended inconclusively in Beijing on Saturday, this diplomatic soap opera was beginning to look like a tired re-run. The latest episode was not without a dramatic plot twist: chief U.S. negotiator James Kelly proposed a plan under which North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons in phases in return for massive aid and a provisional guarantee that the U.S. would not attack. But the denouement seemed utterly predictable: the North was in no hurry to bite, vowing to study the proposal in due time, and both sides came away empty-handed....