Candidates Divide on Korea Deal

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's and John McCain's positions on the Bush administration's new disarmament agreement with North Korea highlight the different approaches that each presidential candidate might take to international affairs, if he were elected.

On Sunday, North Korea said it will resume disabling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor north of Pyongyang, its capital, after the State Department said a day earlier that it was removing the reclusive communist state from the U.S.'s list of state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. will lift some of its sanctions on North Korea, though it will keep numerous others in place.

The moves are part of a broader agreement between Washington and Pyongyang this month that calls for international monitors to verify the extent of North Korea's nuclear assets and, eventually, to oversee their dismantling. In exchange, North Korea would receive economic aid and could begin to resume diplomatic relations with the U.S.

The differences in the candidates' views on the new agreement cut to the heart of each senator's position on whether engaging rogue regimes like North Korea, Iran and Syria promotes U.S. interests globally. Sen. Obama has expressed support for engagement on the campaign trail, while Sen. McCain has voiced skepticism.

These views could influence the next administration's approach toward combating nuclear proliferation, which both politicians cite as among the most serious threats facing the U.S.

Sen. Obama said he largely supported the new agreement. He said the Bush administration's initial policy of trying to isolate North Korea had allowed Pyongyang to increase its nuclear arsenal. The Democratic nominee has also called for direct, high-level negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, to avoid a similar outcome.

"The last eight years have demonstrated the necessity of confronting the threat from North Korea through aggressive, sustained and direct bilateral and multilateral diplomacy," Sen. Obama said in a statement Saturday.

Sen. McCain, in contrast, has joined conservative critics who charged that the Bush administration had capitulated to recent North Korean provocations and signed off on a deal short of the verification measures needed to ensure Pyongyang's disarmament.

"I have previously said that I would not support the easing of sanctions on North Korea unless the United States is able to fully verify the nuclear declaration Pyongyang submitted," Sen. McCain said in a statement Friday, when details of the agreement began to emerge. "It is not clear that the latest verification agreement will enable us to do so."

Comments on Sunday by Sen. McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, suggested some divisions among Republicans over the North Korea deal. "Condoleezza Rice, of course, having worked on this strategy for quite some time—I have faith in her that they're making this wise decision and North Korea, of course, better live up to its end of the bargain there," she told reporters at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, the McCain campaign said "Governor Palin's position is identical to Senator McCain's: the verification steps are not sufficient to date to warrant North Korea's removal for the state sponsors of terror list. ... She believes Secretary Rice and the Bush administration are wise to pursue diplomacy and that is what she meant."

Senior Bush administration officials have touted the North Korea deal as central to U.S. efforts to rein in a country that has been linked to proliferation of both nuclear materials and long-range missiles.

"I can tell you, the secretary [of state] and president wouldn't take these kinds of decisions if they didn't think they would help us, the United States, ultimately get the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Saturday.

North Korea had balked at an initial U.S. proposal that sought broad access to all suspected North Korean nuclear sites, U.S. officials said. Under the deal unveiled on Saturday, the Bush administration said inspectors would have access to sites formally declared by North Korea, but that any additional sites could only be visited through "mutual consent." Counterproliferation experts say this could allow North Korea to hide elements of its nuclear program.

Both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama argued that the North Korea deal risks alienating key U.S. allies, like Japan. Tokyo has resisted the delisting of Pyongyang from the terrorist list, because of North Korea's past abduction of Japanese citizens.

The Bush administration itself has been divided for much of the past eight years over foreign policy involving not just North Korea, but also countries like Iraq and Iran.

Some officials have questioned whether engaging such states only legitimizes their despotic rulers and buys them additional time to expand their nuclear capabilities. Another issue has arisen over the utility of involving allies, which are often divided in purpose and unwilling to take harsh measures against the state in question if diplomacy fails.

Senior Bush administration officials suggested that internal divisions remain, and that many of the key policy questions have yet to be answered.

"Verifying North Korea's nuclear declaration will be a serious challenge, and we're not going into this naively. This is the most secret and opaque regime in the entire world," said Patricia McNerney, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, on Saturday.

But, she added: "Since we began the six-party process, we've learned more then we knew about North Korea's nuclear program."

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com