Revisiting the Sept. 19 Joint Statement 8 years later

Posted on : 2013-04-15 12:00 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Seoul and Washington have arrived at the agreement’s terms, but Pyongyang still holding off on dialogue
[%%IMAGE1%%]

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter, and Seong Yeon-cheol, Beijing correspondent

After eight years of twist and turns, South Korea and the US have arrived at the terms of the September 19 Joint Statement - originally agreed upon back in 2005.

In a joint communique issued after foreign minister talks on Apr. 12, Washington and Seoul said they were prepared to execute the pledges from the statement, issued as part of the six-party talks in 2005, if North Korea made the choice to denuclearize.

With their statement, the foreign ministers sent a clear message to Pyongyang that they wanted to sit down face to face, using the older agreement as a starting point.

Kerry also underscored the aim during an Apr. 13 meeting with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, saying he intended to revive the six-party talks as a way of resolving the North Korea issue through dialogue.

The September 19 Joint Statement was the first major result of the six-party talks, which were convened to work for the denuclearization of North Korea. Emerging from the fourth round of talks in Beijing on September 11, 2005, it said that the US would refrain from attacking North Korea and provide economic aid in exchange for Pyongyang’s abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear plans. Subsequent talks focused on specifically how these aims could be realized. In 2007, North Korea reached the February 13, 2012 agreement to freeze its nuclear facilities as an initial step toward implementing the terms of the 2005 agreement, as well as the second-stage October 3, 2007 agreement to disable its nuclear facilities. But neither pledge was kept, owing to differences over verification.

Kerry’s proposal was welcomed by China, which has consistently called for a solution to the nuclear issue based on the September 19 agreement. Yang told Kerry that the nuclear problem “needs to be resolved peacefully through dialogue and negotiations, in a way that accords with the interests of all the countries involved.” He also said China would work to make sure the September 19 agreement is implemented through the six-party talks.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also had a meeting with Kerry on Apr. 13, where he stressed the importance of all the relevant countries, not only North Korea, in taking responsible action to execute the terms of the statement.

Despite the declaration from the US and the support of China, restarting the six-party talks process is unlikely to be easy going. Seoul and Washington are both demanding that Pyongyang show sincerity by adhering to international norms and standards, as well as the agreements it has accepted - not just as a goal of dialogue, but as a precondition for it. In other words, if North Korea wants dialogue, it has to follow all UN Security Council resolutions - including #1718, which bans nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches - and honor its pledge to disable its nuclear facilities.

This forces Pyongyang into the position of having to make a choice that amounts to self-denial. It has already said on numerous occasions that the September 19 agreement is null and void. It is also claiming success with its three nuclear tests, where it says it was able to develop a nuclear warhead that is lightweight and small enough to fit on a launch vehicle. Its successful satellite launch last December proved that it has at least the earliest level of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology.

In a foreign ministry statement on January 23, it declared an “end to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and said it would only agree to nuclear arms reduction and peace talks as a nuclear power, rather than denuclearization talks. On March 31, it proclaimed plans for a two-track approach of nuclear and economic development. New measures followed suit earlier this month: legal codification of its nuclear power status on April 1, and the restarting of its Yongbyon nuclear facilities - which had been disabled in an agreement reached at the six-party talks - on April 2. To accept the dialogue offer, it would have to walk back all of these steps.

In effect, Seoul and Washington said they would not accept the advancements North Korea has made with its nuclear program or any of the follow-up measures adopted for them. It remains to be seen just how Pyongyang will react to this.

 

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

 

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

Related stories