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The U.S.-North Korean talks also dealt with the shutdown of the North’s atomic reactor in Yongbyon and the next steps, which are the reporting and disablement of the country’s nuclear program. The meeting was a prelude to the possibly rapid improvement in bilateral ties. The next step involves removing North Korea from Washington’s lists of hostile and terror-sponsoring nations. Judging from the speed, direction and atmosphere of the latest talks, North Korea may get its wish of forming diplomatic ties with the U.S. without going through the stage of liaison offices. Both sides agreed to discuss forming an organization to discuss a peace framework. As U.S. President George W. Bush said, the day might come when the heads of South Korea, the U.S. and North Korea sit together to sign a peace treaty.

Normalized diplomatic ties between the U.S. and North Korea are a stage that must be crossed in order for peace to take root on the Korean Peninsula. There’s nothing either to get excited about or to fear. But in this process, the safety of South Korea, its people and their future must not be sacrificed. From the perspective of South Koreans, the essence of the North Korean nuclear issue is whether the 70 million inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula will be liberated from the shadows of nuclear weapons.

The United States is also trying to stop North Korea from joining the ranks of the world’s nuclear powers, in order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. But Washington’s short-term measure is to keep North Korean nuclear weapons and technology from being passed on to other rogue states to pose a grave threat to the U.S. public. Kim’s visit to New York demonstrated that Washington’s strategy in dealing with North Korea was shifting from a long-term, intrinsic approach to a short-term, one-step-at-a-time approach.

The new strategy aims to deal with urgent matters first and tackle the more-complicated issues over time. The U.S. is in a position where it cannot extract itself immediately from the Iraqi situation, while there appears to be no clear solution in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Under these circumstances, the U.S. cannot simply keep pushing for a comprehensive and overwhelming resolution to the North Korean nuclear dilemma. U.S. officials are apparently saying that they have no other choice. North Korea has no reason to reject such changes in U.S. policy, and South Korea is not opposed to it either. The South Korean public is the only group that is left without someone to look after their best interests. The United States orchestrates the script and stage performance, while North Korea plays the lead role and China takes part in the joint production. That is the New York performance starring Kim Kye-gwan.

It is at this very moment that the president’s special envoy, former prime minister Lee Hae-chan visits Pyeongyang to “exchange comprehensive opinions on Northeast Asian political climate” It remains to be seen whether Lee will speak on behalf of the interests of the Korean public, or on behalf of the interests of the ruling party. What’s for certain is that this administration and North Korea have and will continue to seek the same objective through the upcoming presidential elections in South Korea.

The South Korean public is praying right now that North Korea is sincere about dismantling its nuclear program.