North Korea's current refusal to enter into a dialogue with the U.S. is likely to be a high-end brinkmanship to force Washington to promise the North a consistent U.S. policy on North Korea, a regime security assurance, and an arms reduction pact, a prominent North Korea watcher said.

"The Obama administration has already sent a signal to North Korea through Stephen Bosworth, its front man on North Korea, who is currently on an Asian swing, that it wants high-level talks with the North. That, however, fell on deaf ears. What does North Korea really want?" asked Victor Cha, former director for Asian Affairs in the White House's National Security Council, in a column that appeared on Chosun Ilbo Saturday.

In the past, North Korea didn't conceal its desire to have a bilateral contact with the U.S., which the latter has responded with unwillingness. Now, as the U.S. wants to have a dialogue with North Korea, it is Pyongyang that refuses the talks, saying such a dialogue is "useless."

"I think North Korea wants three things," Cha said.

Firstly, North Korea wants a consistent U.S. policy toward the nation even after the U.S. has a different administration through elections. This "election proof pact," in the words of Cha, is due to the fact that North Korea had a bitter experience before when an almost successful diplomatic normalization with the U.S. during the Clinton administration didn't bear fruit when George W. Bush administration won the election.

Secondly, North Korea wants an arms reduction pact, not a nuclear negotiation, Cha said. He views it as North Korea's desire to be recognized as a nuclear state. In that case, North Korea wants a mutually bound nuclear disarmament that is based on building mutual trust, rather than a unilateral elimination of North Korean nuclear facilities.

Thirdly, Cha said North Korea wants a special form of assurance that can guarantee the regime's security. To economically survive, North Korea itself also knows that it needs to open up, but doing so, it fears, may lead to the demise of the regime, Cha observed. Therefore, North Korea wants a guarantee from the U.S. that it will not promote the collapse of the regime while the latter goes through reform.

While it is plausible that the Obama administration may accept the first proposal, America will be less keen to accommodate the second and third requests, Cha viewed, citing that America's entering into a deal with North Korea will betray the trust of its allies and its security guarantee to a regime like Pyongyang goes against the American values and human rights concerns.