Global Security Newswire

The United States yesterday batted back North Korea's suggestion that it might consider negotiating changes to its controversial nuclear program in direct talks with Washington, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 27).

Pyongyang said Sunday that while it would not return to six-party denuclearization talks with the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea, it would consider joining a "specific and reserved form of dialogue." This "form" has been interpreted to mean bilateral talks with the United States, which the North has sought for years. The remark was the first indication in months that North Korea is willing to negotiate over its nuclear ambitions.

However, a top U.S. State Department official yesterday said that the proposal "fails to meet" Washington's criteria for talks with North Korea, and that any conversations must take place within a multilateral framework.

"We have a (six-party) framework, and the North Koreans need to recommit to denuclearization through that framework and implement their obligations," said the official, reiterating the long-held U.S. position.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly added that Washington is "open to a bilateral discussion, but only in the context of the six-party talks."

The multinational talks stalled last December, and the North formally withdrew from them in April following international criticism of a North Korean rocket launch that is believed to have been a long-range missile test. Pyongyang has since tested an atomic bomb and held numerous short- and mid-range missile tests.

The North yesterday repeated its suggestion in a statement broadcast by the state media agency.

"Any attempt to side with those who claim the resumption of the six-party talks without grasping the essence of the matter will not help ease tension," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said.

"There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the situation," the ministry repeated, without elaborating. It was referring to direct talks with Washington, said Kim Yong-hyun, a Seoul-based North Korea expert (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, July 27).

Several Chinese experts yesterday said even if Washington assented to a direct dialogue with Pyongyang, the two sides are bound for an impasse, the China Daily reported.

"The U.S. might fall into [North Korea's] trap, as Pyongyang may want Washington to solve all problems, not just the nuclear issue, on the Korean peninsula," said Yang Xiyu of the China Institute of International Studies.

Washington is "not capable" of fulfilling the demands -- particularly the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea -- that would likely come with normalizing relations with Pyongyang, Yang said. Also, bending to the such demands would vindicate the North's defiance of the United States and the United Nations.

"Even if it they started direct talks, no major breakthrough could be achieved if no significant changes happened in [North Korea]," said Pang Zhongying at Renmin University in China. Washington could not afford to concede to the North unless Pyongyang dramatically changed its humanitarian and military policies, he said.

One analyst said that China would be best served by encouraging bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

"Washington knows [North Korea] would request more benefits before it concedes," said Zhang Liangui, an analyst with a Communist think tank, "so having others in the talks is the U.S. plan to make other countries share the burden of offering benefits to Pyongyang" (Haizhou/Jing, China Daily, July 28).

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday urged China to help the international nonproliferation regime crack down on North Korea's efforts to develop and export nuclear-weapons technology, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Cooperation from China, a longtime ally of Pyongyang, is considered crucial to the success of U.N. sanctions against North Korea, which were expanded last month. Beijing's reluctance to enforce penalties against the North have undermined past efforts to pressure Pyongyang into disarmament.

"Neither America nor China has an interest in a terrorist acquiring a bomb, or a nuclear arms race breaking out in East Asia," Obama said. "That is why we must continue our collaboration to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and make it clear to North Korea that the path to security and respect can be traveled if they meet their obligations."

Hours later, the North Korean Defense Ministry issued a strong criticism of the six-party negotiating framework, calling it "a platform for blocking even [North Korea's] development of science and technology for peaceful purposes and curbing the normal progress of its economy." The ministry also charged the forum was based on "ulterior aims to disarm and incapacitate North Korea."

"China and the United States both appreciate the dangers of escalating tensions and a prospective arms race in East Asia," reiterated U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meeting with Chinese officials in Washington. "And we both are going to work against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

Clinton added that the United States is grateful for Chinese "leadership" on the issue so far (Hwang Doo-hyong, Yonhap News Agency, July 28).

The European Union yesterday formally pledged to enforce the new U.N. sanctions against North Korea, AFP reported.

The 27-state body voted to adopt last month's U.N. Security Council resolution "in a robust way as requested."

The resolution instructs member nations to cooperate in enforcing a ban on all North Korean weapons exports and most imports. It also directs the nations to forbid their financial institutions from engaging in financial transactions that might benefit Pyongyang's nuclear or missile programs (Agence France-Presse II/Khaleej Times, July 27)