o American Foreign Policy, the Future of the Two Koreas, and World Peace, II. Proceedings of a Summit Council Roundtable, March 29, 1993, pp.18-20. For an argument that Pyongyang's unravelling would be "staggeringly costly in economic, political, and human terms," see John Merrill, "Prospects for Korean Unification," a paper given at a Conference on Unification in Korea, The American University, February 18, 1993. However, not all analysts are alarmed at the prospect of a collapse of regime in the North, seeing analogies in eastern Europe and central Asia. 26 For an opinion in favor of this approach, see Gus Constantine, "Open Channels to Pyongyang, Expert Tells U.S.," The Washington Times, January 10, 1992, A7; also Doug Bandow, "Its Time to End the Korean Cold War," the Christian Science Monitor, October 14,1992, p.19. 27 For discussion of the possible impact of U.S.-North Korean negotiations on Japan and South Korea, see Divided Korea: Report of the Second Asia Society Study Mission. New York: The Asia Society, 1993, p.33. 28 Pyongyang. KCNA. June 12, 1993. The ambiguous wording, "suspension," preserves Pyongyang's option to bail out on the NPT whenever it chooses. So far at least, Pyongyang's actions seemed to have staved off much-feared UN sanctions. The North may regard the June 12 joint statement between the two sides as a major political victory; that is because Washington's pledge to "respect" the DPRK's sovereignty and "internal affairs" may undercut the U.S. insistence that Pyongyang discontinue its human rights violations. For a South Korean perspective that North Korea registered "a diplomatic Victory" having gained the upperhand over the United States in the June negotiations, see "North Korea's ,Suspension,: Back to Square One and Piles of Unresolved Tasks," Chung,ang Ilbo [Seoul], June 14, 1993; also Seoul, YONHAP, June 11, 1993. 29 R. Jeffrey Smith, "N. Korea Won,t Quit Nuclear Ban Treaty," The Washington Post. June 12,...
