What is it with the Nukes?

As the UN General Assembly starts up another session the big issue on everyone's mind is what to do with Iran and North Korea. From the NY Times:

As dozens of world leaders began gathering here on Monday for the General Assembly, the puzzle of how to confront Iran and another defiant, nuclear-minded state, North Korea, continued to stymie diplomats. Old strategies have proved fruitless, but it is difficult to build support for bold new ones.

Maybe I’m just a starry eyed idealist but there is only one solution to stop nuclear proliferation; old-style diplomacy. In the early 90s the United States was in the same position as it is today with the North Koreans (and now the Iranians). President Clinton decided to remove the trade embargoes and restart diplomatic talks. This was just the push that was needed to halt the North Koreas in their weapons development. We traded goods and humanitarian aid in order to stop the proliferation of WMDs. In the first few years of the Bush Administration this policy was reversed and we took a very hard-line isolationist approach. We cut off aid, placed trade embargoes on goods, and cut of diplomatic relations. In the years that have followed Pyongyang has a reemerging nuclear program and Kim Jong Il is as crazy as ever. In recent weeks the North Korean government has talked about how they will participate in bilateral talks with the United States. I believe that the only way to disarm these rouge nations is to create soft power coalitions. This is article from 1999 talking about North and South Korea diplomacy.

I think the United States should take note and resurrect the successful policy of the 90s.