[Editorial] Give serious thought to restarting the six-party talks

Posted on : 2013-09-10 14:32 KST Modified on : 2013-09-10 14:32 KST

As inter-Korean relations gradually improve, attention is shifting to the matter of the six-party talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. It is a moment that calls for the different countries to bridge their differences and harness their wisdom so that the talks can start again as soon as possible.

As host country for the six-party talks, China has been hard at work trying to get them started again. President Xi Jinping has even taken action personally to encourage Washington to go along. As part of its efforts, it has suggested that all participants take part in a “semi-government, semi-civilian” (or “1.5-track”) meeting in Beijing on Sept. 18, a day before the eighth anniversary of the Joint Statement of Sept. 19, 2005. In late August, Wu Dawei, the Chinese foreign ministry’s special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, visited North Korea to coordinate ideas. The US has joined the push: since last week, Daniel Russel, head of Asia affairs for the National Security Council, and Glyn Davies, special representative for North Korean policy, are on a tour of South Korea, China, and Japan. The signs seem to be pointing to the six-party talks once again getting off the ground after being halted in December 2008.

But there’s also some serious tension, with North Korea, China, and Russia wanting the talks to resume sooner rather than later, and South Korea, the US, and Japan demanding that North Korea first take steps toward denuclearization.

On Sept. 7, Russel said that the “signs that North Korea needs to send” were that the resumed talks would succeed in producing a “rapid-paced road map” for complete denuclearization. This puts the emphasis on specific actions by Pyongyang rather than the talks themselves. It‘s an extension of the very same “strategic patience” approach that is widely understood to have exacerbated the nuclear problem over the past few years. And with the US focused on the question of military intervention in Syria, no real debate on North Korean policy is happening at the moment.

Seoul has been similarly uncommitted to resuming the talks. A senior government official recently said it was unlikely the talks would be restarted before the end of the year. The message was that South Korea is not interested in getting them off the ground quickly. Not only is it not sending senior officials to the meeting in Beijing, but some have accused it discouraging private experts from attending. If this is the case, then the deliberate attempt to kill the momentum for the talks is extremely irresponsible. Past experience shows that improvements on the nuclear issue only come when South Korea is actively committed and working to encourage the US, China, and other participants. Right now, Seoul is going in the exact opposite direction.

The strategic patience approach - managing risks and waiting for change - is no way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. It is also obvious that things tend to only get worse when we rely too much on pressuring Pyongyang. It’s difficult to predict how North Korea will be in the future, but it has not given up on the central goal of the six-party talks: ending the nuclear issue. The talks could prove pivotal in advancing the discussion. Hopefully, Seoul and Washington will not let this long-awaited opportunity go by.

 

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

 

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)