Steps of Negotiation – North Korea Case

A negotiation is a civil process that takes place to resolve and develop a solution between all parties involved. Negotiations take place between all types of parties; organizational and global. They are structured to resolve the situation in an orderly manner with steps and strategies. In 2003, a global situation occurred that required negotiation between countries. North Korea announced they were withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Upon making this announcement, they also stated they do not intend on producing nuclear weapons.

This information was revealed from the official North Korean News Agency, NKNA. When this was announced, it raised red flags around the world. Even though North Korea declared the withdrawal immediate, according to Article X, countries must give a three month notice before withdrawal. North Korea made the decision to withdraw from the NPT is based on Bush’s 2003 State of the Union Address, when he declared North Korea to be part of the ‘axis of evil’ along with Iran and Iraq (Global Issues, 2006).

Since the United States were preparing to invade Iraq, they felt they needed to create a credible deterrent in case they were next. The non-proliferation treaty was developed to convince countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and North Korea to be non-nuclear countries. The treaty was enforced in 1970 and provided the framework needed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. A decade before in 1993, North Korea threatened to withdraw from the NPT.

There were several bilateral negotiations that took place resulting in North Korea retracting their statements just a few days before the withdrawal became effective. Since North Korea was no longer an official member of the treaty, there were few obstacles stopping them from developing and selling nuclear weapons, technology, and materials to other countries. There are only a few countries that are not members of the NPT. These countries are India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. There were several key factors in this initial negotiation of nations.

In order to prevent other countries from evaluating their stand on the NPT, the Bush Administration developed a new approach to global security. Several key global arms control agreements were implemented, these agreements included the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Sort Treaty, and the process of strategic arms reductions with Russia (Global Issues, 2006). When North Korea decided to withdraw, they invoked their legal right to do so.

The United States was worried that this action would increase international tension and risk Japan evaluating their position on nuclear weapons. Bill Richardson acted as a mediator between the United States and North Korea. After several discussions and negotiations, North Korea said they would halt all nuclear weapon developments. Shortly after making this agreement, they restated saying they would not give up their nuclear weapon program until the United States provides it with a civilian nuclear reactor.

These actions made provisions for the entire treat to be reviewed, revised, and negotiated between countries. Actions or comments made by countries caused commitments to a nuclear weapons treaty to be revoked. This is a serious and sensitive subject globally and a nuclear war is feared by every country and their leaders. The same steps of negotiation are used in a global topic such as nuclear weapons and the NPT and it would be in an organizational negotiation.

When these steps are carefully followed and sometimes calling in a third party mediator is necessary, a solution can be developed and implemented for the sake of all parties involved. References CNN World. (2003, January 10). Retrieved from Nuclear Weapons: North Korea Leaves Nuclear Pact: http://articles. cnn. com N Korea Withdraws From Nuclear Pact. (2003, January 10). Retrieved November 9, 2012, from BBC News World Edition: http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/asia-pacific. com Global Issues. (2006, October 26). Retrieved from North Korea and Nuclear Weapons: http://www. globalissues. org