ID :
35308
Sat, 12/13/2008 - 06:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/35308
The shortlink copeid
(News Focus) Six-way talks in jeopardy after crucial round fails
By Lee Chi-dong
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- The future of the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear program is increasingly open to doubt, following the failure of this week's session in Beijing, almost certain to be the last one before President George W. Bush leaves office.
It has demonstrated not only the difficulty of dealing with North Korea but also
the limits of the multilateral forum created by the Bush administration in 2003 as
a proxy for bilateral talks with the North under its predecessor, analysts said.
The six-way format has enabled the U.S. to share the burden and responsibility
with the other regional powers _ South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. At the
same time, it has served as a tool to put joint pressure on Pyongyang.
Participants, however, have faced the daunting task of reflecting various and
conflicting demands from North Korea and the other five parties.
Veteran negotiators often used so-called creative ambiguity to break an impasse
and reach a deal.
This time, however, there was no room for such ambiguity, as the U.S. pushed to
clarify ways to inspect the North's nuclear facilities and put them in writing.
The North, as expected, refused to do so.
"The North Koreans don't want to put into writing what they are willing to put
into words," top American envoy Christopher Hill said, as he trudged away from the
bargaining table after what was almost certain to be the last round of six-way
talks
A deal breaker was the North's refusal to let outside inspectors take samples from
its nuclear sites for analysis at foreign laboratories, which the U.S. and its
allies view as a key requirement for painstaking verification.
The deadlock will provide ammunition to critics of the Bush government's policy
shift on North Korea, since its first nuclear test in 2006, and lessons to the
incoming Obama administration.
"North Korea is already preparing new talks with the Obama administration," Nam
Sung-wook, head of the Institute for National Security Strategy, a Seoul-based
think tank. "North Korea is not interested in additional deal with the Bush
administration."
The collapsed talks will serve as important lessons for President-elect Obama who
favors "tough and direct" diplomacy on North Korea in tandem with the six-way
talks.
Nam questioned the future role of the six-way talks, saying bilateral negotiations
between Pyongyang and Washington will become a priority.
When asked the prospects for the troubled disarmament talks, top South Korean
negotiator Kim Sook called for efforts to keep the process rolling.
"It is like riding a bicycle," Kim said. "It is hard to predict how it will
proceed if efforts are not made to move forward and momentum is not maintained."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- The future of the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear program is increasingly open to doubt, following the failure of this week's session in Beijing, almost certain to be the last one before President George W. Bush leaves office.
It has demonstrated not only the difficulty of dealing with North Korea but also
the limits of the multilateral forum created by the Bush administration in 2003 as
a proxy for bilateral talks with the North under its predecessor, analysts said.
The six-way format has enabled the U.S. to share the burden and responsibility
with the other regional powers _ South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. At the
same time, it has served as a tool to put joint pressure on Pyongyang.
Participants, however, have faced the daunting task of reflecting various and
conflicting demands from North Korea and the other five parties.
Veteran negotiators often used so-called creative ambiguity to break an impasse
and reach a deal.
This time, however, there was no room for such ambiguity, as the U.S. pushed to
clarify ways to inspect the North's nuclear facilities and put them in writing.
The North, as expected, refused to do so.
"The North Koreans don't want to put into writing what they are willing to put
into words," top American envoy Christopher Hill said, as he trudged away from the
bargaining table after what was almost certain to be the last round of six-way
talks
A deal breaker was the North's refusal to let outside inspectors take samples from
its nuclear sites for analysis at foreign laboratories, which the U.S. and its
allies view as a key requirement for painstaking verification.
The deadlock will provide ammunition to critics of the Bush government's policy
shift on North Korea, since its first nuclear test in 2006, and lessons to the
incoming Obama administration.
"North Korea is already preparing new talks with the Obama administration," Nam
Sung-wook, head of the Institute for National Security Strategy, a Seoul-based
think tank. "North Korea is not interested in additional deal with the Bush
administration."
The collapsed talks will serve as important lessons for President-elect Obama who
favors "tough and direct" diplomacy on North Korea in tandem with the six-way
talks.
Nam questioned the future role of the six-way talks, saying bilateral negotiations
between Pyongyang and Washington will become a priority.
When asked the prospects for the troubled disarmament talks, top South Korean
negotiator Kim Sook called for efforts to keep the process rolling.
"It is like riding a bicycle," Kim said. "It is hard to predict how it will
proceed if efforts are not made to move forward and momentum is not maintained."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
