It only took them 15 years to figure this out:

South Korea and the U.S. are working out a strategy to avoid falling for North Korea’s brinkmanship tactics again after almost 15 years of nuclear talks that have produced little result.

The two allies are apparently determined to maintain sanctions against the North until it denuclearizes. They believe their mistake in the past has been a piecemeal approach to negotiations that immediately rewarded the North for every small, reversible step.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee on Thursday, “Even if its talks with the North resume, the U.S. will maintain UN Security Council sanctions unless the North takes tangible measures toward denuclearization.”

“This government too will maintain the existing policy of faithfully implementing sanctions against the North until it takes verifiable steps to end its nuclear program.” At the same time, we’ll keep the dialogue door open to persuade the North to return to the six-party talks,” he added.

A senior government official said, “There will be no compensation until North Korea takes action to denuclearize.”

All the signs are that Seoul and Washington are determined not to fall again for the North’s cycle of provocations, conciliatory gestures and stalling for time to win concessions. As a senior government official has suggested, South Korea and the U.S. need “basic changes to the larger framework in their approach to the North Korean nuclear issue.”  [Chosun Ilbo]

I am at the point I will have to see the US government not give into North Korean provocations to actually believe it.  By the way One Free Korea has an article out about why the Obama administration’s North Korea policy has so far been solid though it still remains to be seen what they are hoping to accomplish.