MARCH 12

On this date in 1993, twenty-five years ago today, North Korea announced that it was withdrawing from the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NNP) that it had signed.  This treaty forbid any country, who did not already have them, from developing nuclear weapons.  Bill Clinton had just become President.

The North Koreans agreed to suspend their withdrawal pending negotiations with the U.S.  In 1994, Clinton agreed to give them materials and engineering necessary to build two light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for disarmament.  By 2002, it became evident that this agreement had fallen apart.  George W. Bush had just become President.  This is where the sanctions against North Korea began - they continue today.

In 2004, North Korea again declared withdrawal from the NNP Treaty.  In 2006, it confirmed it had successfully tested a nuclear reaction underground.  Shortly after Barack H. Obama became President, the North Koreans were declared a full fledged nuclear power with the testing of another nuclear device.

The point?  We've been messing with this problem for a long, long time.  We're into our fourth presidency.  In fact, there are indications, North Korea was working on nuclear weaponry since the early 1980s.  It's a good idea to keep more countries from producing nuclear weapons but an almost impossible task to accomplish. 
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