hankyoreh

Yesterday North Korea, through a statement from the Foreign Ministry, said it will not participate in the six party talks and is going to strengthen its “nuclear deterrent for self-defense.” It was an expected response to the United Nations (UN) Security Council’ presidential statement that denounced Pyongyang’s recent rocket launch for being in violation of Security Council Resolution 1718. North Korea had said, “there will be no six party talks” if the matter of its rocket launch was discussed at the UN Security Council. Nonetheless, its reaction is stronger than was expected.

It said it “will no longer participate in the talks, nor will it be bound to any agreement of the six-party talks” and will therefore resume normal operations of its nuclear facilities and reprocess its spent fuel rods. Denying the talks that have become the diplomatic framework for resolving issues facing the Korean peninsula, like the North Korean nuclear issue for the past five years, does not signal a good and proper course of action.

North Korea makes no secret of its desire to engage in bilateral talks with the U.S. instead of in the six party talks. The fact it singles out both the presidential statement as a reason for not participating in the six party process and Japan (instead of the U.S.) further reveals this. North Korea has characterized Japan as “villainously trying to thwart the six party talks from the start” and “is openly even trying to enact sanctions of its own because of our satellite launch.” The statement escalates the crisis while attempting to refrain from criticizing the U.S. in order to negotiate a deal with Washington. It takes a very dangerous approach. Bilateral talks with the U.S. cannot replace the six party process, and it could make the situation on the Korean peninsula worse in unpredictable ways. North Korea needs to return to the six party talks immediately.

It will be essential for the other countries participating in the six party talks to work in agreement to bring stability to the situation and put the six party talks back on track. Our own government in South Korea, however, is doing the opposite. Yesterday afternoon the Lee Myung-bak administration made its final decision in favor of full participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). North Korea has for some time now been saying it will consider participation “a declaration of war” and would “respond firmly.” The Lee administration says the decision is not a form of sanction against North Korea’s rocket launch and that it is merely taking action on something it had already been considering. However, full participation in PSI is a type of sanction if you consider its timing and circumstances. North Korea’s reaction to the concerns and warnings of the international community are of course a problem, but that does not rationalize our government‘s actions as it now assumes the lead in escalating tensions.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]