Park proposes five-party talks to resolve issue of NK nuclear program

Posted on : 2016-01-23 18:45 KST Modified on : 2016-01-23 18:45 KST
Such talks would exclude Pyongyang and would be another effort to ramp up pressure in the push for sanctions following the North’s latest nuclear test
President Park Geun-hye speaks during the joint 2016 policy report to the president by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
President Park Geun-hye speaks during the joint 2016 policy report to the president by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs

President Park Geun-hye directed administrative agencies on Jan. 22 to pursue a “five-party talks” framework without North Korea to resolve the issue of the country’s nuclear program.

Park also publicly raised questions about the effectiveness of the current six-party framework used to address the issue. This marks the first time Park has publicly discussed a five-party framework excluding North Korea.

Many predicted the decision to apply diplomatic pressure while effectively shutting Pyongyang out of dialogue and negotiations is likely to increase inter-Korean tensions.

“There may have been some utility to the six-party talks in the past as a framework for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, but you have to question their effectiveness when the situation is persisting with no talks at all, and even the ones that are held don’t help with North Korea’s denuclearization,” Park said during the joint 2016 policy report to the president by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, and Unification at the Blue House guesthouse on the morning of Jan. 22.

“We should be looking for varied and creative approaches besides just the six-party talks, including possibly attempting a five-party talks framework without North Korea,” she added.

The six-party talks to address the North Korean nuclear issue have been suspended for over seven years, since Dec. 2008. Five-party talks have been pursued several times by South Korea, the US, and Japan since the six-party talks first began in 2003, but never materialized because of China and Russia’s objections.

But China, the chair nation for the six-party talks and the country widely seen as holding the “key” to sanctions against the North in the wake of its recent fourth nuclear test, has repeatedly called instead for resuming the six-party talks as quickly as possible.

“We need to guard peace and security in Northeast Asia by honoring the September 19 Joint Statement and resuming the six-party talks quickly,” said Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hong Lei in a regular briefing that afternoon. The September 19 Joint Statement was released in 2005 after an agreement reached at the six-party talks.

Park also predicted that inter-Korean relations would remain “troubled” and said some stagnation would be “inevitable” for the time being.

“We cannot let ourselves be swayed in the firm principles of our North Korea policy,” she said.

“The important thing isn’t rushing into dialogue with North Korea,” she added. “A principled approach is the fastest way to improve inter-Korean relations.”

Park called on the agencies to “focus all diplomatic energies on ensuring that forceful and effective North Korea sanctions are achieved in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and necessary additional bilateral and multilateral measures can be adopted.”

“We need to make it clear to the other countries involved that the North Korean nuclear issue is continuing to worsen over time, and a solution is becoming more and more difficult,” she added.

Park singled out cooperation from Beijing as a key factor.

“Hopefully, [the Chinese government] will provide effective measures so that [North Korea] returns to the international community like Iran [having abandoned its nuclear program],” she said.

In its policy report that day, the Ministry of National Defense said it planned to set up a channel this year for real-time sharing of intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs with US military authorities - raising the possibility that real-time intelligence sharing between South Korea and the US could happen within the year.

In Dec. 2014, a trilateral information sharing pact was signed by South Korea, the US, and Japan for the sharing of all forms of intelligence on the North Korean nuclear and missile threat in “oral, visual, electronic, magnetic or documentary form.”

Meanwhile, North Korea refused to accept a copy of a National Assembly resolution denouncing its fourth nuclear test and urging abandonment of its nuclear program, which the Ministry of Unification attempted to pass on through its Panmunjeom liaison channel that afternoon at the National Assembly’s request.

By Choi Hye-jeong, staff reporter, and Park Byong-su, senior staff reporter

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

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

Most viewed articles