When Jimmy Carter went to Pyongyang in the summer of 1994 on an unofficial, last-ditch mission to negotiate a solution to the nuclear impasse that was threatening to engulf the Korean peninsula in war, Marion Creekmore went along as a top aide. Speaking about his recently published book on Carter's trip-A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter, the Power of a Peacemaker and North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions-Creekmore, now a distinguished visiting professor of history and political science at Emory University, related the lessons Carter's surprising diplomatic success might have for leaders still trying to curb a nuclear DPRK.


Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter's Mission to Pyongyang

with

Marion Creekmore
Distinguished Visiting Professor of History and Political Science Emory University

 

In mid-1994, the DPRK was poised to eject international monitors from the country and begin reprocessing plutonium, the U.S. was preparing to strike the North's nuclear facilities and neither side was talking to the other. Carter had a standing invitation to visit North Korea, and decided that even if there was only a slim chance of avoiding war, he should use his invitation to start a dialog with North Korea's leadership. The Clinton administration was not enthusiastic about Carter's mission, but acquiesced after insisting that he conduct his trip as a private citizen and make no promises to the North.  Carter's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung proved to be a breakthrough, with the two establishing a warm rapport. The former president told Kim that the U.S. would likely accept a deal that committed the North to a verifiable nuclear freeze in exchange for U.S. economic assistance and talks on normalizing diplomatic ties. Kim agreed in principle to the proposal.

Creekmore said the underpinnings of Carter's negotiating success were his twin convictions that a solution required the U.S. to provide the DPRK with incentives to suspend its nuclear activities, and that he personally needed to show respect for his North Korean interlocutors.        

In the following days, North Korean officials attempted to backtrack on the agreement and the Clinton administration grew furious that Carter had announced the deal without first consulting them. However, the agreement held, serving as a blueprint for the subsequent Agreed Framework.

The situation today is very different than in 1994. The North Koreans have tested a nuclear weapon, and the Bush administration's approach to North Korea is very different from its predecessor's.  Still, asked whether the U.S. should pursue the sort of high-level, bilateral negotiations with the DPRK that led to Carter's breakthrough, Creekmore said "I'm not sure it'll work, but we should try."

Ambassador Marion V. Creekmore, Jr. is currently distinguished visiting professor of History and Political Science at Emory University. In 1993 Creekmore was appointed to the joint position of program director of The Carter Center and vice provost for International Affairs at Emory.  While at The Carter Center (1993-1996), he coordinated many of the international activities of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. 

A career American diplomat from 1965-1993, Creekmore served as U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka and Republic of Maldives from 1989 to 1992.  Other overseas postings included South Africa, Ghana, Germany and India. In New Delhi he held the position of deputy chief of mission from 1981-1984.  Ambassador Creekmore's policy assignments in the U.S. State Department in Washington included deputy assistant secretary of state for International Organizations Affairs; deputy director of the secretary of state's Policy Planning Staff; deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs; and deputy Afghan coordinator.

A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter's Mission to Pyongyang

In the wake of North Korea's current nuclear test, Marion Creekmore will discuss his recently published book, A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter, the Power of a Peacemaker and North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions. Twelve years ago, with North Korea suspected of building nuclear weapons, international negotiations gridlocked and the United States pressing for United Nations sanctions that North Korea insisted would be a declaration of war, former President Carter traveled to North Korea to talk with President Kim Il Sung. He did so despite serious reservations within the Clinton administration and the South Korean government. The resulting deal broke the diplomatic deadlock and spurred Washington and Pyongyang to resolve the crisis peacefully. The U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework, signed in October 1994, shut down the North Korean plutonium-based nuclear program for eight years.

Creekmore, who accompanied Carter on his historic trip, will talk about the mission's controversies and successes, how the former president conducts sensitive negotiations, why the discussions between Carter and Kim Il Sung proved fruitful, and lessons gleaned from the 1994 experience that are applicable today in dealing with North Korea and other so-called "rogue regimes."