S. Korea guarded about N. Korea's intention on nuclear talks

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Tuesday it is too early to judge North
Korea's real intentions in expressing its willingness to rejoin both bilateral
and multilateral nuclear negotiations.

"It is still early to judge (the North's intentions)," Wi Sung-lac, Seoul's top
nuclear envoy, said in response to remarks made by North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il to visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Pyongyang. Both Chinese and
North Korean official media reported that Kim said the North may return to
six-nation disarmament talks depending on the outcome of one-on-one talks with
the U.S.
Wi said Seoul needs to be debriefed by Beijing on the details of Wen's meeting
with Kim and see how the unpredictable regime behaves in the coming days.
"The hostile relations between the DPRK (North Korea) and the United States
should be converted into peaceful ties through the bilateral talks without fail,"
North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported Kim as saying. "We expressed our
readiness to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the DPRK-US
talks. The six-way talks are also included in the multilateral talks."
China's official Xinhua news agency also said the two leaders reached a "vital
consensus" on the issue.
Kim's comments present the clearest and most concrete sign that his regime hopes
to break its diplomatic isolation.
Shortly after the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its long-range rocket
launch in April, the North announced that it was quitting the six-party forum. It
conducted a second nuclear test the following month, and the U.N. responded with
tougher sanctions. In July, the North's number two leader Kim Yong-nam said at an
international gathering that the six-way talks have come to a permanent end.
As the U.S. and its allies have turned the screws on Pyongyang under U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1874, Pyongyang has softened its stance and refrained
from taking further provocations. It handed over two detained American
journalists to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who visited Pyongyang in
August to gain their release.
Kim said in a meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo last month that
Pyongyang will hold "bilateral and multilateral talks" on its nuclear program.
At the time, it was unclear whether Kim was referring to the six-way multilateral
talks, which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
Experts say it is meaningful that Kim directly mentioned the six-way talks in his
meeting with Wen, although it remains uncertain whether Pyongyang will return to
the dialogue, which it earlier rejected as serving the interests of regional
powers.
"Above all, there is big significance in that Kim made an official reference to
the six-way talks," said professor Kim Yong-hyun at Dongguk University in Seoul.
It is also message for the Obama administration to set up a bilateral meeting at
an early date, he said.
"Chances are growing that North Korea-U.S. dialogue will take place within this
month," Kim added. "The six-party talks could be held no later than November."
But Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University, cautioned against optimism.
He noted that the North has set the results of its direct talks with the U.S. as
a precondition for wider negotiations.
"I think it is more like face-saving rhetoric for China," he said.
Pyongyang has made clear again that it will place more weight on bilateral talks
with Washington and demote the six-party negotiations to a forum to rubber-stamp
the deals between North Korea and the U.S., he added.
Yoo said the Chinese premier's trip to North Korea this week was successful as it
reaffirmed the alliance between the two sides as they marked the 60th anniversary
of diplomatic relations and demonstrated Beijing's influence over Pyongyang.
"With regard to the nuclear issue, however, China failed to meet expectations
that it will persuade North Korea to return to the six-way talks
unconditionally," he said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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