Despite North Korea's declaration that the 1994 agreement is dead, the oil shipments are still arriving. Some 40,000 tons of fuel oil is on the way to North Korea and the cost of last years shipments was $80 million. But the US has made it clear that the shipments could cease if the north continues to play games. The zigzag policy on peace and disarmament in the north apparently represent the fighting between hard core and reformist factions in the north. Meanwhile, the country is falling apart. Attempts to establish a working economy have been half hearted. Much of the population is still starving and most non-farming economic activity has come to a halt.
