NEWSWEEK: How serious is North Korea’s latest announcement that it is in the final stage of reprocessing spent fuel rods?

HAN: North Korea is trying to show that they are not being cowed by the United States. The statement is ambiguous enough to require more analysis. I think this should not be a reason to cancel the forthcoming talks.

Why do you think North Korea made that announcement at this critical time?

They obviously wanted to present their own version of the Beijing talks, which they would like to construe as two-party, rather than multilateral, talks. They want to up the ante even before the conference.

In recent speeches you’ve portrayed the current nuclear crisis as more dangerous than the one that occurred in 1993-94. Do you still think that’s true?

It’s much more complex and dangerous. There is greater incentive on the part of North Korea to go ahead with their nuclear program, and greater urgency and compulsion on the part of the United States to stop it. North Korea has the pieces to become a nuclear power it lacked back in 1993. And after seeing what happened in Pakistan and India, and in Iraq, North Korea can draw two contradictory conclusions: don’t mess with the U.S., or, if you’re going to develop nuclear weapons, get it done very quickly.

In Washington you will meet officials who say the North can’t be trusted and see negotiations as Pyongyang’s delaying tactic. How will you answer them?

I agree that North Korea is not a trustworthy negotiating partner. But we have to give negotiation a chance, at least until we conclude that it will not work. There is great urgency in dealing with these problems. But we have to be very deliberate and thoughtful in how we respond.

Many Korea watchers view younger South Koreans as a wild card in this process. Many are proud that North Korea would develop a nuclear weapon. They’re very nationalistic and, as a group, anti-American. Do they need to be re-educated on the threat from the North?

The young do need a better understanding of history, but the notion that they take pride in North Korea’s nuclear program is overblown. It is true, though, that there is an insufficient understanding of the security situation [on the Korean Peninsula] that needs to be dealt with.