"The proof, so to speak, is going to be in the pudding." Thus America's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, mangling a perfectly good proverb, but being judiciously cautious about a supposed agreement this week by North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal. That was on September 19th. Within 24 hours, North Korea had made it clear that there had been little if any real agreement. A resolution of the crisis surrounding its declared (and possibly hidden) nuclear weapons programmes appears as remote as ever, though at least the parties are still talking. After more than two years of tortuous discussions involving North Korea and the powers most closely involved in the region's security—the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea-participants were anxious to produce at least some evidence that their effort was not being wasted. As host of the talks, China was particularly keen for an accord to be reached. The Americans, lacking any satisfactory plan should the talks fail, were ready to endorse a vaguely worded document that would at least hope to keep the diplomatic process alive.
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