Speeches and Papers  Engagement: Brief for an Incoming Korean
President  by Stephan Haggard, University of California, San
Diego and Marcus Noland, Peterson Institute for International
Economics  Forthcoming in Freedom Review, January 2008 December
14, 2007   Recent developments on the Korean peninsula present
the incoming South Korean president with substantial
opportunities. The Six Party Talks have established a road map
for North Korean disarmament. The inter-Korean summit outlined
an ambitious array of North-South economic initiatives and
advanced the goal of replacing the existing armistice with a
permanent peace treaty.  Subsequent progress has not been
uniform and reversals will undoubtedly occur. But do these
recent developments vindicate the strategy of engagement with
North Korea pursued by the last two administrations? Our answer
is “yes,” but with important qualifications. The rationale for
engagement is straightforward—to encourage sufficient evolution
in North Korea’s internal practices and ext