A Cooling Tower Crumbles Posted on June 28th
THE 60-FOOT-HIGH cooling tower at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor came tumbling down in a cloud of dust yesterday, producing a television picture that U.S. officials have been seeking for more than two years. The dramatic image was meant to convey the tangible results of a protracted and torturous diplomatic campaign to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and signal its irreversibility. In that sense there is less than met the eye. Yongbyon’s shutdown is indisputably a positive development, and one that a U.S.-led coalition achieved at relatively modest cost. No longer will the facility add to a North Korean plutonium stockpile that already contained the raw material for at least eight bombs — though the plant has not yet been dismantled beyond repair. Still, the goal of disarming North Korea, far from becoming inevitable, remains distant — and the regime’s repeated evasions, lies and failures to fulfill its promises strongly suggest that it has no intention of giving up its arms.
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