South Korea and the United States have agreed to pursue a diplomatic solution to North Korean issues, including its missile and nuclear programs. Such a move is deemed timely, as the two nations will be able to ease tension created by North Korea’s missile launches and to manage the situation stably through diplomatic efforts.
Seoul and Washington decided to solve the latest missile issue within the framework of the existing six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs. This is considered a reasonable choice because it is difficult to take a separate approach to the missile problem; also, the basic framework of the six-nation talks needs to be strengthened.
It is also important to hold inter-Korean ministerial talks in Busan next week according to schedule. If the meeting fails to open, the two Koreas will not be able to discuss imminent issues because the channels of communication between Seoul and Pyongyang will have broken down.
The U.S. and South Korea need to make an in-depth review of their policies toward North Korea. The two allies already have settled upon an outline of what they will do next. Song Min-soon, President Roh Moo-hyun’s chief national security secretary, is visiting Washington and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, chief of the U.S. delegation to the six-nation talks, started a tour to other countries involved in the six-party talks, South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Seoul at the end of July, and a summit between presidents Roh and George W. Bush is due to be held in mid-September. Given that this is a final chance to comprehensively review their North Korea policies, South Korea’s participatory government and the Bush administration should strive without fail to make their policies effective ones.
It is true that the concerned nations have lost a little bit of drive to resume the six-party talks. According to sources, the unofficial six-nation talks suggested by China have already fallen through. The official six-party talks, however, are still the best option, and the participants of the talks cannot afford to prepare alternatives. Now is time to keep in check all the factors which have obstructed the resumption of the talks, including preconditions. The U.S. should completely review its position of playing for two teams, one seeking North Korean regime change and the other seeking dialogue through the six-party talks. There must be discussion of what leverage against the North is available for South Korea to use. South Korea and the U.S., as partners, should build up mutual trust and establish realistic policies regarding the North based on this trust. Direct negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. should not be excluded, either, if the framework of the six-party talks does not stand to be damaged by them.
International society should recognize that sanctions and pressure against the North, discussed as possibilities among Japanese and U.S. hard-liners after the missile test launches, are merely tactical. Any minor sanctions and pressure against the communist regime should not damage the strategic goal of solving the problem through the six-party talks. Washington and Tokyo should take a broad view of the current situation.
[Editorial] South Korea and the U.S. need to establish effective North Korea policy |
