Bill Clinton Once Struck a Nuclear Deal With North Korea
It was forged against all odds—but couldn’t survive the heat of public disapproval.
Erin Blakemore
Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty Images
Published: April 17, 2018Last Updated: May 28, 2025
President Bill Clinton took the podium on October 18, 1994, with a
speech that reads like a sigh of relief—the announcement of a landmark nuclear agreement between the United States and
North Korea. “This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world,” he assured the nation. Called the Agreed Framework, it was designed to put the brakes on
North Korea’s nuclear program, and it promised to put an end to years of increasing nuclear tension, including a near war, to a halt.
“This agreement represents the first step on the road to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” Clinton said. “It does not rely on trust.” In exchange for North Korea ending its
nuclear weapons program, the United States agreed to normalize relations with the nation—and both agreed to pursue “formal assurances” not to use nukes against one another.