The year 2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of talks to address the first North Korean nuclear crisis. That crisis arose when the IAEA found the DPRK to be in violation of its safeguards commitments. The UN Security Council then took action, and North Korea responded by announcing its intention to withdraw from the NPT. The rest, as they say, is history. But now, 20 years later, it is appropriate to begin by asking what has changed over the years, what is new, and what difference does it make? Certainly, there have been many periods of crisis with North Korea over the last two decades, periods that look similar in terms of the flow of events, even though the United States has changed presidents three times since then and North Korea has changed leaders twice. But, while there is a déjà vu about today’s situation, there are obviously important differences as well.

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