hankyoreh

special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security affairs

A senior government official drew attention on May 5 with remarks suggesting the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue may be resumed without preliminary denuclearization measures from Pyongyang.

Speaking with Washington correspondents of South Korean media outlets, the official said the talks “could resume officially if North Korea sends clear and concrete signals that it is going to take the early steps toward denuclearization.”

“A year ago, we said we would discuss whether to resume the six-party talks after North Korea had taken its first denuclearization steps, but that is not the position now,” the official added.

If true, the remarks would indicate a major step back from Seoul and Washington on their previous position of insisting that the talks could only be resumed if Pyongyang first followed through on pledges in its Feb. 29 leap day agreement with the US in 2012, including a moratorium on nuclear and missile launch testing, a halt in activities at the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, and permissions for a return visit by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

The official also responded to questions about what kind of “signals” North Korea would have to send.

“There could be several different ways,” he said.

“In addition to taking early steps toward denuclearization through the six-party talks process, North Korea could also give us confidence that it is taking denuclearization measures through reporting and examinations,” he added.

The official went on to say the period through August of this year “could be an opportunity.”

Meanwhile, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security affairs Hwang Joon-kook also spoke to foreign correspondents on May 5 while visiting the US.

“South Korea and the US have discussed several ideas for injecting new life into the denuclearization talks, including the exploratory dialogue with North Korea that we are pursuing right now,” Hwang said.

He went on to say there were “no separate conditions on exploratory dialogue” to examine the possibility of resuming the six-party talks.

“Exploratory dialogue is about seeing North Korea’s intentions [to denuclearize], so we want to meet unconditionally and see how sincere they are,” Hwang explained.

“We’re planning to be flexible and not focus too much on whether it‘s bilateral or multilateral,” he added.

After arriving in the US on May 5, Hwang met with US special representative for North Korea policy and senior six-party talks representative Sung Kim, and assistant Secretary of the Treasury for terrorist financing Daniel Glaser. He departed on May 6 for Beijing, where he is to meet with Chinese special representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs and chief six-party talks representative Wu Dawei.

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

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