Hillary Clinton made it clear: de-nuclearization first, then diplomatic normalization.

CNN: North Korea claims to have weaponized plutonium

With the six-party talks in tatters and faced with such a highly explosive situation in Northeast Asia, we the people in this region need to make it loud and clear that the nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will not be tolerated, and that we need peace and development rather than war and confrontation.

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For example, while McCain correctly stresses the need to maintain such a deterrent, he simultaneously endorses several initiatives seemingly adopted from the playbook of prominent proponents of de-nuclearization, including, notably, former Republican Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former Clinton Secretary of Defense William Perry, and former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Straighter talk needed on nuclear deterrence