ABSTRACT
The sudden, unexpected death of Kim II Sung on July 8, 1994, came at a time of intensive negotiations between the United States and the DPRK, with the outcome still uncertain. Earlier, between 1989 and 1992, advances seemed to offer hope, both in North-South relations and with respect to US-DPRK issues. Six rounds of high-level talks had taken place in Seoul and Pyongyang between ROK and DPRK officials, and on December 13, 1991, an Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression, Exchanges, and Cooperation was signed, with an additional protocol on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula completed on the last day of that year. This was the situation as the Kim Jong Il era opened. In truth, however, the new era was cloaked in mystery. The new leader held only military positions initially, those of chairman of the National Defense Commission and Supreme Commander of the People's Army.
