Coming to Terms With Containing North Korea

Bill Clinton’s rescue mission to Pyongyang last week may have done more than win the freedom of two young American journalists. To many in Washington, it seemed to reconfirm hints of just how shrunken North Korea’s ambitions (not to mention its leader) have become after years of confrontation with the world.

Desperate for some affirmation of his legacy, this interpretation goes, the ailing Kim Jong Il used the drama to draw a former American ... Full Story »