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Instances of contract are increasing between countries connected with the Korean peninsula as they seek a solution to the issue of North Korean nuclear weapons. The main stage for this contact is China.

North Korean first vice minister of foreign affairs Kim Kye-kwan, and Zhang Yesui, vice minister of foreign affairs for China, will hold strategic talks in China on June 19. This is the first time that Kim, who is in charge of nuclear negotiations for North Korea, has visited China since Feb. 2012, when he took part in talks with Glyn Davies, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea policy. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also currently visiting China.

On June 18 and 19, Cho Tae-yong, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will be meeting with Glyn Davies and Shinsuke Sugiyama, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanic Affairs, before going to China for dialogue with Wu Dawei, China’s special representative for North Korea policy. And next week, the South Korea-China summit will be held in China.

The immediate objective of all these meetings appears to be the resumption of the six-party talks. But the US is reluctant to immediately enter into talks with North Korea. The US government has been asking North Korea not for just words but for sincere action, and the South Korean government has been doing the same thing.

The “sincere action” that the two countries are speaking of first of all is based on the content of the agreement from Feb. 29, 2012. That agreement, which was the product of negotiations between Kim Kye-kwan and Glyn Davies, calls for the suspension of North Korean missile launches, nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and other nuclear activity at Yongbyon nuclear facility; the return of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Yongbyon; discussion about providing 240,000 tons of food aid to the North; and strengthening exchange in the areas of culture, sports, and education.

The Feb. 29 agreement is almost the only thing that US President Barack Obama’s administration and North Korea have achieved on the issue of the North’s nuclear program. When the North did not implement the agreement, the US contingent supporting talks with Pyongyang found their position weakened, and that effect has continued until now. Therefore, it is reasonable for the US to view the implementation of this agreement as the starting point for new talks with North Korea.

If North Korea wants talks with the US, statements alone such as the June 16 statement by the spokesperson for the National Defense Commission that said “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula was the dying wish of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il” are not enough. Instead, North Korea must make clear its intention to implement this agreement. China must also move beyond vaguely pushing for the resumption of the six-party talks and must work to persuade the North to do this.

The more important thing is contact between the US and North Korea. The best way to learn each other’s true intentions is not through a third party but rather through face-to-face meetings. The US needs to make clear to North Korea what kind of action it expects. There are also items specified in the Feb. 29 agreement that the US must implement. Without making this kind of effort, no solution will be found by simply dismissing North Korea’s recent actions as “a tactical bid for talks.” The more contact there is between Pyongyang and Washington, the better even if such contact is not official.

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