North Korea has been growing its nuclear ambition since the activation of Yongbyun's reactor for research in 1965 after signing the Nuclear Treaty with former Soviet Union in 1959. It began in full scale development of nuclear weapon with nuclear fuel cycle, which includes reprocessing plant and nuclear fuel plant, ready for production after completing construction of Yongbyun's 5MW reactor.
IAEA's inspection from 1992 to 1993 revealed that North Korea has extracted 10 to 14kg of Pu between 1989 and 1992. IAEA for this requested for special inspection on North Korean facilities suspected to store extracted Pu but Pyongyang announced its secession from NPT in March 1993 that led to the 1st North Korean Nuclear Crisis. The 1st North Korean Nuclear Crisis was once resolved through the "Geneva Agreed Framework between the US and DPRK" of October 1994 where the two sides agreed to freeze North Korea's Yongbyun nuclear facility and conduct IAEA inspection, and to provide the North in return with 200 MWe light water reactor and 500,000 tons of heavy fuel annually until the completion of the light water reactor construction.
However, the 2nd North Korean Nuclear Crisis broke out when the North admitted on its possession of uranium enrichment program during former Assistant Secretary Kelly's visit to Pyongyang in October 2002. North Korea in January 2003 for once again announced its secession from NPT after removing the seal of Yongbyun nuclear facility and deporting IAEA inspectors in December 2002. The North reprocessed about 30kg of Pu from 2003 and 2005, and finally carried out the nuclear test of 9 October 2006. Pyongyang currently is assumed to possess approximately 40kg of Pu that can produce 6 to 7 nuclear weapons.
The ROK government is working on peaceful resolution through dialogue and negotiation while maintaining the principle of "North Korean nuclear NOT tolerable." Diplomatic endeavors of the ROK government, the US, and other neighboring nations led to the series of the Six Party Talk for peaceful resolution of North Korean nuclear issue from August 2003. The "September 19 Joint Statement", which set the principle and goal of resolution of North Korean nuclear issue, was adopted at the 4th round of the Six Party Talk in September 2005, and the "Initial Actions for Implementation of the September 19 Joint Statement" ("Feb. 13 Agreement") was produced from the 5th round in February 2005.
As parts of the initial actions in accordance with the "Feb. 13 Agreement", Yongbyun nuclear facility was shut down and sealed on 14 July 2007 and seal and surveillance cameras were in place by IAEA inspection/verification team by 11 August 2007. In addition, "Second-Phase Actions for Implementation of the September 19 Joint Statement" ("Oct. 3 Agreement"), which mainly entails the North Korea's declaration and disabling of all nuclear program by 31 December 2007 and the US' removing designation of DPRK as a state sponsor for terrorism and terminating the application of the Trading with the Enemy Act with respect to DPRK, was adopted from the 6th round of the Six Party Talk that took place from 27 to 30 September this year.
However, the future process of the Six Party Talk does not seem so easy until complete resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue due to many obstacles and challenges on the road ahead. Therefore, long-term patience and strategic approach are very much needed for resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue through peaceful methods, and it is absolutely critical to firmly maintain readiness posture to deter North Korean nuclear threat that exists today.