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North Korea has reportedly told Beijing it would like to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program on Sept. 13. China is said to have informed Seoul of this, and will coordinate with the other three parties -- the U.S., Japan and Russia -- to announce an official date. Talks went into recess on Aug. 7 after failing to agree on a statement of principles. The U.S. and North Korea have kept in direct and indirect touch during the break but appear not to have narrowed their differences over the main stumbling block, whether Pyongyang will be able to run a civilian nuclear program.
Officials in Seoul are saying the talks could last past the Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving holiday (Sept. 17-19). Washington and Pyongyang have had several unofficial contacts, but those were not so much negotiations as exchanges of positions. North Korea insists on its right to use nuclear energy peacefully, including the right to build light-water reactors. The U.S. says no.
South Korean officials are pinning their hopes on a U.S. concession. During the break, Seoul said the North should be given the right to use nuclear energy peacefully, but construction on light-water reactors at Sinpo, suspended when Pyongyang started the present crisis, should not resume. South Korea hopes Washington will agree provided North Korea rejoins the Non-Proliferation Treaty and accept inspections by the IAEA while dismantling its reprocessing facilities. Washington also wants a ban on North Korea producing its own nuclear fuel.
North Korea could bring up fresh issues when talks resume. It has already delayed the restart for two weeks because it interprets recent joint South-Korean-U.S. war games here as hostile. This is linked to a condition Pyongyang raised at the start of this round of talks, namely that Washington must remove its nuclear umbrella protecting South Korea. Seoul officials say the North Koreans are likely to raise the issue, not because they want it satisfied but to buy time to make a decision.
In the best-case scenario, an agreement could be reached within three or four days. If not, participants may wait around for another two or three days for instructions and then draw up an agreement. If that should fail, the talks would adjourn once again. Seoul says that as long as there are no particular hitches, the talks will not go into recess again.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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