[Editorial] 6-Party Talks: Act On Little Things First

The fifth round of six-party talks are being held to set plans for implementing the September 19th Joint Statement. The meeting produced a chairman's statement and came to an end after four days. It looks like the second meeting will only happen next year and there is not even a time table for it, showing you have difficult the talks were this time. Once again, it was because of a lack of mutual trust.

The United States demanded that North Korea take visible action in the form of halting its reactor at Yongbyon and nuclear reprocessing, while North Korea said it will not stop operations unless there are complete plans for implementation of an agreement, plans that include corresponding measures. There are problems with the attitudes of both sides. It will be difficult to move forward if each side demands of the other that the other act first and if those demands are based in distrust. The two countries needs to take action that would increase mutual trust even if that has to happen before concrete implementation plans are agreed on. Examples would be halting operations at the Yongbyon reactor and for the US to remove the North's designation as a terrorism-sponsoring nation.

It is regrettable that the North is taking issue with economic sanctions by the Bush Administration such as the freezing of assets. But it's not that one cannot understand, either, because one can still see hostile perceptions by the US towards the North even since the joint statement, in pressure to improve human rights and president George W. Bush's recent labeling of National Defence Commission chairman Kim Jong Il as a "tyrant." Participating nations need to refrain from actions that can cause others to have doubts.

It has become more important that these talks gain better momentum. For starters, a date for the next meeting needs to be chosen as soon as possible. The US and the North need to move away from their rigid stances and demonstrate they are ready to at least take action in small ways. The South Korean government needs to do all it can to build an atmosphere conducive to the US and the North doing something. The nuclear issue is not going to be resolved by merely talking about the principle of "action for action."

The Hankyoreh, 12 November 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]