A PARTIAL LIST OF DPRK NUCLEAR UNDERTAKINGS

Between North and South Korea

1992 Both sides commit to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”; not to build or receive nuclear weapons; not to possess reprocessing and enrichment facilities; and to jointly inspect agreed locations.

2007 Calls for a “permanent peace regime” and economic cooperation between the two Koreas.

2018 Calls for “a permanent and solid peace regime” and “the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

Between North Korea and the US

1993 North Korea’s planned withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), announced earlier that year, is paused; agreement to remain in the NPT includes “assurances against the use of force,” a commitment to “peace and security in a nuclear free Korean Peninsula,” and support for peaceful reunification.

1994 The Agreed Framework: North Korea to freeze plutonium production and subject facilities to international inspection. The US to supply fuel oil and safer reactors for electricity. Agreement to move toward “full normalization of political and economic relations” and to “work together for peace and security on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.”

2000 North Korea to suspend launches of “long-range missiles of any kind” while talks continue. Mentions ways to “reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula and formally end the Korean War by replacing the 1953 Armistice Agreement with permanent peace arrangements” and declares that neither side has “hostile intent” toward the other. 2012 A “moratorium” on various nuclear activities with verification measures. Food aid and other assurances of “no hostile intent” and commitment to “peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

Multilateral

2003 North Korea withdraws from the NPT.

2005 Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks proclaims the shared goal of “the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” North Korea commits to “abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date,” to the NPT and International Atomic Energy Agency inspections and safeguards.

Unilateral Statements

2013 The Party Central Committee says that North Korea’s nuclear weapons “are not goods for getting US dollars and they are neither a political bargaining chip nor a thing . . . [to] be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the DPRK to disarm itself.”

2018 Kim Jong-un reports to the Central Committee on “the miraculous victory of having perfectly accomplished the historic cause of building the state nuclear force.” Therefore, he says, “a fresh climate of détente and peace is being created . . . and dramatic changes are being made in the international political landscape.” (April) Adapted from Joshua Pollack, “Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: Reviewing the Precedents,” Arms Control Wonk blog, June 10, 2018.