The efforts to get North Korea back to the six-party talks are not producing results. Inter-Korean talks this week in Busan failed to even produce a joint statement and ended a day early. This is the first time this kind of breakdown has happened. Chinese vice foreign minister Wu Dawei is in Pyongyang to talk to the North Koreans about returning to the six-party format, but he appears to have failed to win a favorable response. Serious discussion of a UN Security Council resolution is about to begin, and the United States and Japan are about to intensify their own measures against Pyongyang. North Korea needs to see the results its mistaken decisions are producing.
The way the North's delegation to the Busan talks handled itself shows you how out of touch Pyongyang's leadership really is. It tried so hard to ignore the shockwaves it created by firing missiles, repeating the same lopsided assertions and demands for economic support. Previous talks have always produced results, even in difficult circumstances, through a lot of give and take, so this meeting’s lack of results is clearly a step backwards. The North’s nonsense about how its Songun military politics can defend the South makes you wonder if the North has the most basic ability to see the situation clearly. If the statement was a tactical move, it was arrogant and childish, but if it is what the North's leadership is really thinking then it is dangerous. Inter-Korean relations are going to be at a standstill until there is progress on the issue of missiles and the six-party talks.
China has always tried to be understanding of North Korea. Right now, however, it looks quite frustrated. Given that it was not informed of the missile launch ahead of time, and that the Pyongyang is not listening to its appeals, that is only natural. Over at the United Nations, China initially called for a mere Chairman's Statement from the UN Security Council, but now it has given in to calling for a resolution without sanctions. This is evidence of Pyongyang's growing isolation. The only way for the situation to turn around would be for the North to return to the six-party process. Demands that the U.S. put a halt to its financial sanctions is something that can be discussed in that format. The U.S. is taking a die-hard approach right now, but once talks resume it would have to be make certain concessions.
Firing missiles hurts the world's view of North Korea. The more time goes by, the bigger a dilemma Pyongyang is going to find itself in, and it will be that much harder to resolve the situation. While leaving Beijing on Thursday, top U.S. delegate to the six-party talks Christopher Hill said North Korea is "in an historic moment." Indeed, it is a crossroads, a choice between isolation and confrontation on the one hand and coexistence and negotiation on the other. That is why the North needs to decide, as soon as possible, to return to the six-party talks.
[Editorial] How long will the North ignore reality? |
