'No Option': Former Intelligence Chief Says US Needs To Accept North Korea's Nuclear Capability

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper gave sobering assessment of North Korea's efforts to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities during an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

"That train left station a long time ago," Clapper said of North Korea's willingness to halt its weapons program. "The North Koreans are not going to denuclearize."

Clapper's comments stood in contrast to a fiery warning from the US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who said on Tuesday that the US would not take talks between South Korea and North Korea seriously after South Korea proposed holding high-level talks between the two nations at the North-South Korean border.

"We won't take any of the talks seriously if they don't do something to ban all nuclear weapons in North Korea," Haley said during a press conference Tuesday. "We consider this to be a reckless regime, we don't think we need a Band-Aid and we don't think we need to smile and take a picture."

"So North Korea can talk with anyone they want but the US is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons that they have," Haley continued.

north korea missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile test in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 22, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

South Korea's willingness to negotiate with North Korea came after the annual New Year's Day speech given by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un who, according to Reuters, said that he was "open to dialogue" with South Korea, which is set to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

But Kim Jong Un's remarks also accompany new reports that North Korea may be staging another missile test in the coming days, military officials told NBC News.

President William J Clinton
Remarks on the Nuclear Agreement with North Korea
October 18, 1994

Good afternoon. I am pleased that the United States and North Korea yesterday reached agreement on the text of a framework document on North Korea’s nuclear program. This agreement will help to achieve a longstanding and vital American objective: an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula.
This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world. It reduces the danger of the threat of nuclear spreading in the region. It’s a crucial step toward drawing North Korea into the global community.

I want to begin by thanking Secretary Christopher and our chief negotiator, Ambassador at Large Bob Gallucci, for seeing these negotiations through. I asked Bob if he’d had any sleep, since he’s going to answer all your technical questions about this agreement, and he said that he had had some sleep. So be somewhat gentle with him. After meeting with my chief national security advisers, and at their unanimous recommendation, I am instructing Ambassador Gallucci to return to Geneva on Friday for the purpose of signing an agreement.

The United States has been concerned about the possibility that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons since the 1980’s. Three administrations have tried to bring this nuclear program under international control. There is nothing more important to our security and to the world’s stability than preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. And the United States has an unshakeable commitment to protect our ally and our fellow democracy South Korea. Thirty-eight thousand American troops stationed on the Peninsula are the guarantors of that commitment.

Today, after 16 months of intense and difficult negotiations with North Korea, we have completed an agreement that will make the United States, the Korean Peninsula, and the world safer. Under the agreement, North Korea has agreed to freeze its existing nuclear program and to accept international inspection of all existing facilities.

This agreement represents the first step on the road to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. It does not rely on trust. Compliance will be certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The United States and North Korea have also agreed to ease trade restrictions and to move toward establishing liaison offices in each other’s capitals. These offices will ease North Korea’s isolation.

From the start of the negotiations, we have consulted closely with South Korea, with Japan, and with other interested parties. We will continue to work closely with our allies and with the Congress as our relationship with North Korea develops.

Throughout this administration, the fight against the spread of nuclear weapons has been among our most important international priorities, and we’ve made great progress toward removing nuclear weapons from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and from Belarus. Nuclear weapons in Russia are no longer targeted on our citizens. Today all Americans should know that as a result of this achievement on Korea, our Nation will be safer and the future of our people more secure.

Now I’d like to ask Ambassador Gallucci to come up and make a statement and answer your questions.

Since 1953 how many countries has North Korea bombed, and how many countries has the U.S. bombed? Hell, since 2003 how many countries has North Korea bombed, and how many have the U.S. bombed.

It's lunacy that people buy into this fear mongering and hysteria about North Korea, and that we waste billions of dollars every year 'defending' a country with 40x the economic might and at least twice the population from their neighbor.

There is no rationale outside of maintaining empire to keep troops in South Korea. That we borrow money from China and Japan so we can afford to man a tripwire in a country between them is idiotic, and Trump's comments before the election gave me a glimmer of hope we might have a president who understood that.

The swamp keeps winning.

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