Singapore talks bring nuclear deadlock closer to resolution

Posted on : 2008-04-10 12:41 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Next round of six-party talks could take place in a month, provided U.S. and N. Korea approve recent agreements
 Christopher Hill
Christopher Hill

“Both the United States and North Korea will want to clarify the current situation.” This is a remark made by a high-ranking South Korean official close to the six-party talks aimed at dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The remark indicates that nuclear envoys from the two nations, who met on April 8 in Singapore, were unable to resolve the stalemate over the North’s declaration of its nuclear programs, which has resulted in a protracted deadlock in the six-party talks.

What are the things that both countries want to clarify at this moment? First of all, the North needs a guarantee from the United States that no further issues will be raised after agreement has been reached on its declaration of nuclear programs. Pyongyang’s worry is that even if the U.S. administration gives the guarantee, it will be anyone’s guess as to how the Congress will respond. The North also wants its name removed from the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism. Meanwhile, the United States wants the North to cooperate in the process of declaring all of its nuclear activities, including the extent of its alleged uranium enrichment program and clarification of rumors that the communist country worked with Syria on nuclear development. Both countries need a powerful political guarantee from their highest ranking officials.

Against this backdrop, U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill recently told reporters that some progress has been made on the declaration issue but that greater effort is needed to resolve the entire issue. He added that it is too early to say that a breakthrough was made since many things were left unattended.

Chances are low that the U.S. government will not accept the results of the April 8 meeting with the North, considering that Hill has been trying to resolve the declaration issue by using bargaining chips back by political support from President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rather, more attention should be paid to the response of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as he did not endorse the tentative agreements made in a March 13 meeting in Geneva and instructed his staff to conduct further meetings on the issue. The ball is in North Korea’s court.

After the April 8 meeting, Hill told reporters that the results should be reported to Secretary of State Rice and then reviewed by Congress. However, rather than being based on concerns that agreements made at the Singapore meeting will not gain final endorsement, the process is probably designed to lay the groundwork for building congressional cooperation to implement the next steps following agreement on the North’s nuclear declaration.

If both countries endorse the results of the Singapore talks in a few days, the deadlocked six-party talks could resume either later this month or earlier next month. Still, both countries need to fulfill the promises they made if they really want to accelerate the multilateral talks and move to dismantle all of the North’s nuclear programs. Along the way, the U.S. presidential election could emerge as another big variable; kind of like tiptoeing on the line between resolution and another dead end.

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