By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programs is raising hopes for a new period of detente in and around the Korean Peninsula, with the United States and Japan set to improve relations with the communist state by offering economic and diplomatic incentives.

At the same time, however, concerns also remain about whether North Korea is really on the course of abandoning its nuclear programs.

In a symbolic gesture to spur multilateral negotiations on the nuke programs, the North will destroy a 20-meter-tall cooling tower at its Yongbyon reactor today, with U.S. envoy Sung Kim on hand. The demolition will be broadcast live worldwide by CNN.

There have been some ups and downs and stops and gos, but the recent developments suggest the international efforts to denuclearize North Korea are back on the right track.

The countries involved in the six-party talks will soon open a fresh round of the talks in Beijing to evaluate the second-stage process of disabling the nuclear facilities, and enter the third and last stage of dismantling the nuke programs. Pyongyang has completed eight out of 11 steps on the course to disclosing its nuke programs.

It remains to be seen whether the impoverished and isolated state will ever abandon its suspected arsenal of atomic bombs. Most observers agree there is a still long way to go.

``It may very well be the case that North Korea does not want to give up its nuclear weapons and its programs. That is a very real possibility,'' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Heritage Foundation in Washington last week. ``But we and our partners should test it.''

For North Korea's part, the declaration will give it a crucial opportunity to become a more responsible member of the international community and rebuild trust with the United States and its allies. By receiving more energy and food aid, as agreed last year in an aid-for-disarmament deal, it can ease domestic problems to some degree.

The U.S. government will hand over the complete list of the North's past and present nuclear activities to the Congress and begin the process of taking it off its list of terror-sponsoring countries.

If the denuclearization process goes well, the regime will be able to get more international aid and increase trade with the rest of the world. However, the White House is expected to maintain tight rules against the North for the time being due to different laws and regulations on North Korea and other enemy states and remaining questions about its real intention.

North Korea's assets in the U.S. territories, estimated at some $31 million, may remain frozen and it will also take a long time for it to resume global financial transactions.

Japan and S. Korea

The U.S. decision to de-list North Korea as a terror sponsor will also help the North and Japan make progress in solving the North's alleged abductions of Japanese citizens, an issue that has hampered the six-party talks. Japan has adamantly opposed the de-listing and maintained a tough line on the North.

``If the United States removes North Korea from the terrorism blacklist, Japan would like to use it as a card to spur progress in resolving the abductions,'' Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.

He said he would discuss the issue with Secretary Rice during the Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting in Japan on June 26-27.

Despite the encouraging signs, the prospects for the resumption of the stalled inter-Korean talks still remain uncertain.

The North, angered by President Lee Myung-bak's policy of linking inter-Korean cooperation to the nuclear issue, has not reacted to the offers of food aid from the South and shows no willingness to reopen the suspended inter-Korean dialogue, either.

Reflecting the changing Washington stance toward Pyongyang, Lee may step up efforts to normalize relations with the North and ease regulations on inter-Korean exchanges.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr