코리아타임즈 Aborted Six-Nation Talks

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Aborted Six-Nation Talks        North Should Return to the Dialogue Table

After all, the fourth round of six-nation talks to discuss North Korean nuclear programs misses its initial deadline of Thursday Sept. 30. Nor is it likely to be held anytime soon. On Monday, North Korea said it would not resume the talks until Washington ends its hostile policy against Pyongyang and Seoul completely reveals its ``secret efforts’’ to produce weapons-grade nuclear fuel. It is disappointing to see another hard-won momentum for diplomatic solution go up in smoke. North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Su-hon, further surprised Pyongyang watchers, saying the reclusive regime has ``weaponized’’ 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. Choe’s thin-veiled threat about the North’s possession of nuclear weapons came in the wake of a series of moves in the isolationist country, suspected of preparing to test-fire a missile. Reacting to the Japanese media’s report on the suspicion, a North Korean government mouthpiece even threatened to turn Japan into a ``nuclear sea of fire.’’ What the latest series of Pyongyang’s saber-rattling add up to seems to be quite clear: they are upping the ante to the full for the next negotiations, which will likely be resumed after the U.S. presidential election in November. Pyongyang used to resort to similar displays of military prowess as a means of breaking through its diplomatic isolation, economic difficulties and domestic instability in the past. But the time has long past for the North to drop the strategy that has outlived its efficacy to all appearances. North Korea might want to wait out the U.S. presidential elections to deal with the more sympathetic Democrats, assuming they win. But Senator John Kerry has made it clear he has no illusions about Pyongyang. Even if Kerry wins, he won’t buy the North’s military adventurism. Considering it takes at least half a year for a new U.S. administration to tackle foreign policy in earnest, the North’s wait-and-see policy might also end up losing a precious momentum for dialogue. This would place Pyongyang between a rock and a hard place. Once the momentum for dialogue is lost, even the Democrats would not be able to rekindle it and the North will be either forced to starve with some atomic bombs or abandon them with little reward. In the worst-case scenario of another 9/11 taking place, Pyongyang will be one of the few countries _ if not the very first _ on the target list of U.S. retaliation. In that case, it will also have to wrestle with the Republicans for another four years. Diplomatic brinkmanship or threats of power work only when the more powerful side uses them. For the weaker one, it is just suicidal because even if a surprise attack could leave some damages on the enemy, the attacker will be almost obliterated. The North should no longer play such a dangerous military game by taking its southern brethren as hostage, and should instead return to the dialogue table with no more strings attached.