[Editorial] Talks Must Maintain Productive Momentum

The fourth round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue is adjourning after thirteen days of discussion. During marathon talks lasting almost two weeks North Korea and the United States were unable to overcome their differences on how much of North Korea’s nuclear capability is to be abolished.

You try to comfort yourself with the fact that the break is supposed to be for the parties to think of ways to achieve a breakthrough and that it does not mean the process has fallen apart, but it is still disappointing. Each nation was more determined than ever to establish a substantial foundation for a nuclear free Korean peninsula and the many serious bilateral meetings that took place on the sidelines led to expressions of optimism, but in the end they were unable to bring down the wall that separates them.

The reason there was no choice but to take a rest was because of the deep distrust between North Korea and the US. The North says the peaceful use of nuclear technology is a sovereign right and wants to limit any abolition of its nuclear capabilities to weapons, whereas the US says that is impermissible, reminding the talks of how the North used spent fuel rods to extract plutonium for military use. South Korea tried to employ "creative ambiguity" to try and bring the two closer together, but both remained stubborn.

The talks are to resume in three weeks, but you worry about whether the momentum can be maintained. The current round of six-party talks take place after a whole host of complications, and now that the North has returned to the process after thirteen months to see for itself how unbending the US's attitude is it becomes unclear whether it will come back. Of even more concerns is that there may be renewed calls within the Bush Administration for a hard-line approach to Pyongyang. Hard-liners in Washington have let those who want to negotiate assume control, but now they might start to criticize the North's stiff attitude and argue that talks are useless. If they gain the upper hand the situation on the Korean peninsula will actually become more unstable than it was before the talks began. It is because of that concern that the delegations tried so hard to continue the talks and produce some results without taking a recess.

If the break is to be kept from distracting the process each country's delegation will have to return to their capitals and work to create the kind of atmosphere that leads to progress. While at home they need to convince people that they should be granted wide-ranging authority so that they can find potential points of compromise.

The South Korean government needs to go back and forth between the North and the US and make sure the mood does not turn in the wrong direction. It was a valuable exercise to have each party meet after much difficult to engage in serious discussion and increase their mutual understanding, and the South has to create a productive atmosphere so that what has been achieved is not lost. It has to persuade the US, which hold the keys to a compromise, to keep from pushing the North excessively and to display a flexible attitude, because for all practical purposes the talks that continue in three weeks depend on US flexibility. It of course also has to reason with the North in the course of upcoming intra-Korean dialogue.

The nations participating in the six-party talks need to stay alert during the recess and continue their unofficial contacts as they actively prepare for the next meeting.

The Hankyoreh, 8 August 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]