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The countries involved in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue have started holding discussions again on resumption. With a growing chance that North Korea will stage another nuclear test, we hope a way back into the talks can be found sooner than later.

On Dec. 4, the senior US representative to the talks, State Department special representative for North Korea policy Sung Kim, began a series of visits to South Korea, China, and Japan. His schedule stands out as a sign that Washington is searching for a new solution on the nuclear issue after reshuffling its North Korea policy team around the midterm elections early last month. Meanwhile, South Korea’s chief delegate, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Hwang Joon-kook, just got back from a trip to Russia. The US and North Korea are also said to be considering a “Track 1.5” meeting next month in Singapore. All of these efforts have been focused on narrowing the divide between the Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo’s conditions for resuming the talks and those of Pyongyang, Beijing, and Moscow.

They also come at a time when we can’t afford the luxury of putting off the talks any longer. Ever since the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee passed a North Korean human rights resolution last month, Pyongyang has been talking about how it has become “impossible to continue abstaining from nuclear tests.” It would be irresponsible to write this off as just threatening rhetoric, especially at a time when Pyongyang finds itself increasingly cornered. If it does go through with a nuclear test some time early next year, the nuclear issue will be have officially passed the point of no return. That’s why a growing number of experts are talking about how very important the next two or three months will be for resolving that issue.

One of the most realistic ways of getting the talks started again would be for the US to lower the rather high bar and goals it set for them. Essentially, it’s been demanding that North Korea take prior steps to denuclearize, but that’s completely unrealistic. While the ultimate goal of the talks may be “complete and irreversible” elimination of North Korea’s nuclear programs, the priority for now should be on freezing its nuclear capabilities. As the nuclear talks with Iran show, staging talks itself can be tall order when you focus too much on the ultimate goal without building enough trust first. In that sense, it’s a positive sign that Seoul has gotten more flexible recently on its conditions for resuming the talks. Now it needs to come up with some creative ideas and help build the right climate for the US to get the talks going again. If we don’t make something happen now, there’s a strong likelihood neither Park Geun-hye nor Barack Obama will see another opportunity for the remainders of their terms.

Another thing we need to do is improve relations with Pyongyang. Past example has shown that when ties are poor, progress in nuclear talks becomes impossible, and any agreements that are reached tend not to last long. If it becomes necessary, we should seriously consider sending a special senior-level envoy to the North.

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