A U.S. push for bilateral contacts with North Korea is certainly aimed at wooing the recalcitrant country back to multilateral talks for denuclearization. This intention was clearly manifested by remarks by Philip Crowely, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs. ``We are prepared to enter into bilateral discussions with North Korea … and it's designed to convince North Korea to come back to the six-party process and to take affirmative steps towards denuclearization," he said Friday.
It is hoped that the Washington will successfully push bilateral dialogue with Pyongyang in the context of the six-nation negotiations to ensure the reclusive state's abandonment of its nuclear ambition. The Barack Obama administration has so far maintained a firm position that it would not make direct contacts with the North unless the latter comes back to the multilateral talks. On the other hand, the North has boycotted the six-party talks, especially since the U.N. Security Council imposed tougher sanctions on the Stalinist country for its missile launch and nuclear test early this year.
Against this backdrop, the North has begun to feel acuter pains from the international sanctions. And the Kim Jong-il regime has recently sought to hold bilateral meetings with the U.S. to break out of the deadlock over the nuclear issue and minimize the fallout of the sanctions. Pyongyang invited Stephen Bosworth, the special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, last month when former U.S. President Bill Clinton traveled to the North to gain the release of two detained American journalists.
Since then, the North has waved the olive branch toward both the U.S. and South Korea. During a visit by Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, the North promised to resume the suspended Mt. Geumgang tourism project and galvanize the operation of the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong. It released a detained South Korean worker and sent back five fishermen who drifted into North Korean waters.
It seems that the Obama administration also needs to have bilateral negotiations with the North to make a breakthrough in the nuclear stalemate. In fact, Obama's tough stance is not immune to criticism that he has done little to prod the North to implement its 2005 commitment to complete and verifiable denuclearization. Especially, the U.S. is seeking direct dialogue with the North, which recently claimed that it was entering the final stages of uranium enrichment and making more atomic bombs from extracted plutonium.
It is likely that Bosworth may travel to the North late this month or early next month. And his visit, if realized, is expected to provide momentum for the revival of the six-nation talks. However, the U.S. should be more cautious not to give an impression that Washington is giving in to Pyongyang's demand for bilateral negotiations. Of course, such a visit does not represent a policy change by the U.S. It is necessary for the Obama administration to step up its collaboration with other six-party members ― South Korea, Japan, China and Russia ― to restart the multilateral denuclearization talks.
The U.S. can use the U.N. General Assembly session and the G20 summit late this month to take a united front to deal effectively with the North. The Kim regime has not yet shown any sign of a change in its nuclear weapons program. Therefore, it is important to keep the international sanctions in place in order to realize the ultimate goal of creating a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. We should not lose our patience to make a turning point in the North Korean nuclear crisis.