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On Sunday, with just a day left before the inter-Korean summit, six-country talks in Beijing adjourned after drafting a joint statement. The unveiling of the joint statement has been postponed until tomorrow, but Washington¡¯s chief negotiator Christopher Hill said it has ¡°lots of details¡± and is ¡°very useful.¡± Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's top negotiator said the joint statement contained an action plan for the second stage of nuclear dismantlement. According to a South Korean government official, the joint statement contains words that require North Korea to act on what was agreed with the U.S. in Geneva a month ago ? to disable its nuclear facilities and report all of its nuclear materials and programs by Dec. 31.
But the joint statement reportedly contains no details on how the North Korean nuclear facilities are to be disabled and mentions no specifics on the reporting of nuclear materials and a timetable for verification. A South Korean official said it contains only general commitments for the North to abide by the points agreed on during working-group talks. South Korean government officials continue to insist that there is nothing wrong. But if there¡¯s nothing wrong, why aren¡¯t those points included in the joint statement?
The items that have been agreed in Geneva and during the working-group talks are in turn also veiled in secrecy. There are rumors that the disablement of North Korea¡¯s nuclear facilities does not signify a permanent disablement, but is just for a one-year period. They say the logic behind such an agreement is the belief that North Korea¡¯s nuclear facilities can then be disabled within the year. We must hope these rumors are not true. But if they are, we face a potentially absurd situation. The six-party talks are progressing a step at a time, but an accurate assessment of the present situation is that there is still a long way to go.
President Roh Moo-hyun leaves for Pyongyang with the results of the six-country talks fresh in mind. The president has already made it clear that he does not intend to bring up the nuclear issue at the summit, saying that to do so would be like picking a fight with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
If President Roh deals only vaguely with the nuclear issue during the summit citing the results of the six-country talks, then he would be dodging his responsibilities as the leader of South Korea. Roh should stop thinking only about himself at the end of his term and put the 49 million people of South Korea first, who may have to endure another nuclear threat. That is the proper mindset for a president.
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