South Korea and the U.S. both called for renewed dialogue with North Korea over the weekend after visits of senior figures from both countries to the reclusive nation, with the threshold apparently set marginally lower than only a week or two ago.

In a speech marking the 64th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule on Saturday, President Lee Myung-bak called for talks with the North but added they will only be possible "if North Korea shows determination to give up its nuclear ambitions." Critics have spotted a marginal softening from more precise conditions set in the past that made dialogue dependent on progress in the six-country talks and international cooperation and substantial progress in denuclearization.

In Washington, when a reporter noted on Friday that denuclearization by North Korea was "a very long step," Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Philip Crowley replied, "This can be a technically complex process, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a lengthy one. It requires a political commitment by North Korea to meet its obligations and to join in a dialogue." That too suggests a slight climb-down from demands for "specific steps" toward denuclearization, to "political commitment."

Such loosening of terms gives not only South Korea and the U.S. but also North Korea some legroom in behind-the-scenes negotiations even as sanctions continue. "There's a consensus that we can exercise some flexibility in rhetoric instead of worsening a situation by emphasizing excessive firmness," a government official here said.

Seoul and Washington still feel that North Korea's commitment to denuclearization must be irrevocable, in contrast to the reversible steps with which it has fooled the other side in the past.