(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Nov. 5)

Reading N.K. mind

Some progress appears to have been made toward bilateral talks between the United
States and North Korea.

Although early reports said that the meeting between Ri Gun, North Korea's top
negotiator at the six-party talks, and Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department's
special envoy to the talks, in the United States last week were not fruitful, a
Foreign Policy report citing U.S. government officials said that Washington had
presented a three-point proposal to the North.
The two sides are reported to have agreed to hold two bilateral meetings before
returning to the six-party talks. This reflects the U.S. desire to limit the goal
of the bilateral talks to bringing the communist state to the multilateral forum.
It also represents a North Korean retreat from its previous position that it
would return to multilateral talks only if the bilateral talks are successful.
Although U.S. Ambassador Stephen Bosworth has not officially accepted Pyongyang's
invitations to visit the North, the report said that the two sides agreed that
Bosworth would be able to meet with Kang Sok-ju, North Korea's first vice foreign
minister. Kang is responsible for Pyongyang's diplomatic affairs, including the
nuclear issue. The proposed meeting would be a high-level one that could produce
tangible results.
The sticking point in the U.S. proposal is Washington's demand that North Korea
reiterate its commitment to denuclearize and to return to the Non-proliferation
Treaty and to IAEA safeguards. North Korea insists on the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula - meaning South and North Korea - while Washington wants
Pyongyang to recommit to its Sept. 19, 2005 agreement, which spells out terms for
North Korean denuclearization. There are no nuclear weapons in South Korea.
On Tuesday, Pyongyang said it had completed the reprocessing of 8,000 fuel rods
by the end of August at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The official Korean Central
News Agency also said, "Noticeable successes have been made in making the
extracted plutonium weapons-grade for the purpose of bolstering up the nuclear
deterrent."
By announcing that it has made progress on the weaponization of plutonium,
Pyongyang aims to create a sense of urgency on meeting directly with Washington.
Since more progress in weaponization will presumably be made with time, Pyongyang
is in fact goading the United States to quickly start the bilateral talks.
A day earlier, North Korea's foreign ministry pressed Washington to agree to
direct talks. "If the U.S. is not ready to sit at a negotiating table with the
DPRK, it will go its own way," the ministry said. It did not elaborate what "its
own way" meant.
After conducting a second nuclear test in May and launching several missiles in
succession, the North suddenly changed its tactics. In August, it invited
Bosworth to Pyongyang and in early October, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told
the visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that his country was ready to return to
multilateral talks, including the six-party negotiations, but only after holding
bilateral talks with the United States to improve hostile relations between the
two countries.
The eagerness of the North Koreans to meet with the United States and the sense
of urgency it is fomenting are reflective of how desperately Pyongyang needs
international assistance. The international sanctions imposed by the U.N. are
having an impact, further isolating the already destitute country.
Bilateral talks between Pyongyang and Washington may come soon. North Korea has
desired such talks for quite some time and it remains to be seen what will result
from the talks. The government in Seoul, in the meantime, must prepare for all
eventualities.
(END)