(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Sept. 14)

Bilateral talks
US should not send wrong signal to North Korea

A U.S. push for bilateral contacts with North Korea is certainly aimed at wooing
the recalcitrant country back to multilateral talks for denuclearization.

This
intention was clearly manifested by remarks by Philip Crowely, the assistant
secretary of state for public affairs. ``We are prepared to enter into bilateral
discussions with North Korea ??? and it's designed to convince North Korea to
come back to the six-party process and to take affirmative steps towards
denuclearization," he said Friday.
It is hoped that the Washington will successfully push bilateral dialogue with
Pyongyang in the context of the six-nation negotiations to ensure the reclusive
state's abandonment of its nuclear ambition. The Barack Obama administration has
so far maintained a firm position that it would not make direct contacts with the
North unless the latter comes back to the multilateral talks. On the other hand,
the North has boycotted the six-party talks, especially since the U.N. Security
Council imposed tougher sanctions on the Stalinist country for its missile launch
and nuclear test early this year.
Against this backdrop, the North has begun to feel acuter pains from the
international sanctions. And the Kim Jong-il regime has recently sought to hold
bilateral meetings with the U.S. to break out of the deadlock over the nuclear
issue and minimize the fallout of the sanctions. Pyongyang invited Stephen
Bosworth, the special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, last month when
former U.S. President Bill Clinton traveled to the North to gain the release of
two detained American journalists.
Since then, the North has waved the olive branch toward both the U.S. and South
Korea. During a visit by Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, the North
promised to resume the suspended Mt. Geumgang tourism project and galvanize the
operation of the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong. It released a
detained South Korean worker and sent back five fishermen who drifted into North
Korean waters.
It seems that the Obama administration also needs to have bilateral negotiations
with the North to make a breakthrough in the nuclear stalemate. In fact, Obama's
tough stance is not immune to criticism that he has done little to prod the North
to implement its 2005 commitment to complete and verifiable denuclearization.
Especially, the U.S. is seeking direct dialogue with the North, which recently
claimed that it was entering the final stages of uranium enrichment and making
more atomic bombs from extracted plutonium.
It is likely that Bosworth may travel to the North late this month or early next
month. And his visit, if realized, is expected to provide momentum for the
revival of the six-nation talks. However, the U.S. should be more cautious not to
give an impression that Washington is giving in to Pyongyang's demand for
bilateral negotiations. Of course, such a visit does not represent a policy
change by the U.S. It is necessary for the Obama administration to step up its
collaboration with other six-party members ??? South Korea, Japan, China and
Russia ??? to restart the multilateral denuclearization talks.
The U.S. can use the U.N. General Assembly session and the G20 summit late this
month to take a united front to deal effectively with the North. The Kim regime
has not yet shown any sign of a change in its nuclear weapons program. Therefore,
it is important to keep the international sanctions in place in order to realize
the ultimate goal of creating a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. We should not lose
our patience to make a turning point in the North Korean nuclear crisis.
(END)