A Short Timeline of N Korea Diplomacy....

[JohnnyRingo]

After Bill Clinton put the plan into place for a weapons free Korean Peninsula George W Bush took over the reins
Let's see how that went:

First the optimistic period while Hillary was still packing up the White House China:

HISTORIC HANDSHAKE IN KOREA
June 13, 2000

Nobody had expected Kim Jong Il to turn up in person, but there he was, the reclusive North Korean dictator, marching purposefully across the tarmac. The crowd cheered on cue as the aircraft carrying the South Korean President taxied to a halt. When President Kim Dae Jung emerged, he scanned the horizon before an aide pointed out the portly man in glasses standing smack at the bottom of the steps. And thus, history was made. The two Kims acknowledged and applauded each other. There was a warm handshake -- the first meeting of the leaders of the two Koreas in 55 years. They'd agreed there'd be no national anthems or flags.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june00/korea_6-13.html

COMING TOGETHER
June 14, 2000

They tried to do it once. In '93, they admitted economic failure. So you see an evolution coming to them, looking for new solutions. Whether they come to the right solution, we simply don't know yet.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june00/korea_6-14.html

Though Warhawks In The Pentagon Debate Building a Missile Defense System To Protect Us From N Korea, Few Heed Their Call To Arms:

BUILDING A DEFENSE
August 9, 2000

JOHN PIKE: This rogue state threat, I think, is basically made up.
JEFFREY KAYE: John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists contends the North Korean threat and capability have been overstated.
JOHN PIKE, Federation of American Scientists: Some people say that the problem is that North Korea is so irrational that they might fire a nuclear missile at the United States, even though we would blow them up about a half- an-hour later. I don't think that they're that crazy.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec00/nmd_8-9.html

Even As The Situation On The Korean Peninsula Improves:

THAWING RELATIONS
October 11, 2000

The picture that is emerging now is that this visit lays the foundations for a fundamental shift in the U.S.'s security posture in Northeast Asia. The Cold War is over. With friends in both the South and North the U.S.'s position is redefined to be one of a harmonizer and a stabilizer in the region. No longer does the security architecture of the Cold War in which the U.S. had two strong alliances bilaterally with South Korea and Japan and a strategic partnership with China, no longer does that apply. From now on the U.S.'s entire role in the region has been redefined.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec00/nkorea_10-11.html

Madeline Albright Travels To N Korea

I wanted to obviously meet with Kim Jong Il, a leader with whom no American official had met. President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea had met with him. But I had a chance to meet with him and talk with him, as it ended up, for almost 12 hours -- six official hours and then various dinners and performances. And the point was to try to see how we could significantly reduce the threat from the missiles that the North Koreans have been producing. And I think that we have been, in a step-by-step way, been able to open some doors. The work that I did is now going to be followed up by meetings with technical experts, and we're going to take it step by step.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec00/albright_10-30.html

By Early 2002 There's a New Sheriff in Town, Here's What Deputy Fife Had to Say:

"AXIS OF EVIL"
January 30, 2002

JAMES WOOLSEY: It's very definitely a clear statement of the president's attitude and it leans -- it seems to me -- toward a policy of telling these governments that if they do not get out of business of terror and developing weapons of mass destruction, they stand at risk of their regimes being deposed forcefully by the United States.

Making Matters Worse, Bush Travels To The Korean Peninsula to Further Threaten N Korea.
Here The "Plain Talkin Texan" Explains The Inclusion of N Korea On His "Axis Of Evil" List and Isolating Them Diplomatically:

KOREAN VISIT
February 20, 2002

And let me explain why I made the comments I did. I love freedom. I understand the importance of freedom in people's lives. I am troubled by a regime that tolerates starvation. I worry about a regime that is closed and not transparent. I am deeply concerned about the people of North Korea, and I believe that it is important for those of us who love freedom to stand strong for freedom and make it clear the benefits of freedom.

And that's exactly why I said what I said about the North Korean regime. I know what can happen when people are free. I see it right here in South Korea. And I'm passionate on the subject. And I believe so strongly in the rights of the individual that I, Mr. President, will continue to speak out.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june02/korea_2-20.html

From the Same Article Let's see What Selig Harrison, Author Of "Two Koreas" Has To Say About Bush's First State Visit:

Well, he's made it worse. Until there's some indication that the United States is ready to negotiate with North Korea in a productive way, that is, not just laying down ultimatums about what they have to do but indicating what we might be willing to do to cooperate with them to solve the problems we have, I think there's going to be a lot of tension in South Korea because there won't be... between South Korea and the United States because there won't be a resumption of negotiations with North Korea, and there will always be a danger of drifting into tensions over nuclear inspections and over the missile issue.

If the President wants to... if he doesn't like North Korea, what he should be doing is trying to open up dialogue with North Korea. And although he says he is, if you look at what he is saying and what other people in the administration are saying, they're really not talking about a negotiation; they're talking about a court proceeding, a trial in which North Korea is the defendant at the bar and, you know, the United States is the judge, the jury and the executioner all wrapped up into one and the verdict is already in: They're bad guys.

And Of Course Rumsfeld Clarifies The Intent Of Bush's "Axis Of Evil" Speech:

SEC. DONALD RUMSFELD
February 4, 2002

Well, I am kind of old fashioned. When a president says what he says, it seems to me we let those words stand. And if I were living in any one of those countries or participating in the government of any one of those countries, I don't think there would be any doubt at all as to what he meant.

Colin Powell Works Overtime to Repair The Damage Of The Bush Visit
North Korea Expresses Willingness To Communicate:

U.S., N. KOREA CONSIDER REOPENING DIALOGUE
July 31, 2002

Secretary of State Colin Powell met briefly with the foreign minister of North Korea Wednesday, marking the highest level of contact between Washington and communist North Korea since President Bush took office in 2001.

The 15-minute informal meeting between Powell, who is currently on a six-nation tour of Southeast Asia, and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun led to an offer from the North Koreans to resume a more formal dialogue between the two countries.

According to the Associated Press, after the meeting Paek said, "We have agreed to resume the dialogue between North Korea and the United States."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/northkorea_07-31-02.html

We know now how the proposed talks went as the Bush Administration hurriedly prepared the invasion of the first country on it's "Axis" list.

Is it Clinton's fault that N Korea has developed a nuclear weapon? I don't think so.