Both Sides Ought to Remain More Positive, Flexible

With the formal U.S.-North Korea talks just two weeks away, initial pessimism seems to be giving way to positive expectations.

There were some undeniably promising signs over the weekend: the United States and North Korea have reportedly decided to extend the stay of Ambassador Steven Bosworth in Pyongyang to three days, from the previously agreed two days, indicating that officials of the two countries are busy planning for the meeting in New York.

Also positive in this regard is the ongoing visit to the reclusive country by a three-member group of top U.S. experts on North Korea, probably to sound out their North Korean counterparts before Bosworth's arrival.

The most hopeful signals came from none other than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself, who said the U.S. is willing to ``explore some of the issues, which they have raised continually with us over the years,'' citing normalization of relations, a peace treaty instead of an armistice and economic development assistance, ``if North Korea recommits to the verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.''

This is a clear advance from her previous avowal not to discuss diplomatic normalization with nuclear-armed North Korea. Other State Department Officials also said they have indirectly heard Pyongyang's ``clear insinuation'' about its return to the stalled six-party talks.

North Korea should not let this opportunity pass. Kim Jong-il should meet Bosworth, the third U.S. presidential envoy in 15 years and the first one for Obama, and unequivocally express a will to denuclearize his famine-stricken country and positively cooperate to turn the U.S. leader's slogan for a nuclear-free world into reality. Only this would bring about what the isolationist regime wants most right now ― diplomatic recognition and economic stability.

On the inter-Korean side, it is highly doubtful whether Pyongyang's blistering attacks on South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek with respect to the frozen exchanges between the Koreas will produce any positive results. North Korea has expressed an intention to discuss the resumption of tours to Mt. Geumgang through the South Korean private operator of the project, even hinting that both Koreas can jointly investigate the shooting incident which resulted in the death of a South Korean tourist in the North Korean resort complex more than a year ago.

Pyongyang's change of mind is welcome but its direction seems misguided, as it is high time for North Korean officials to know that it is the Seoul government, not private businesses, that makes final decisions. North Korea's grudge against the hard-line Lee Myung-bak administration may be justifiable to some extent, but any efforts by Pyongyang to sideline Seoul won't bear any fruit, whether the North's targeted partner is the United States or South Korean private businesses.

That said, Seoul can hardly afford to watch the U.S.-North Korea talks with complacency based on its watertight alliance with Washington, which it may think has been enhanced further by President Obama's visit here last week. President Lee appeared content with Obama's approval of the South Korean leader's ``grand bargain'' formula for denuclearizing North Korea. But it is highly dubious how many U.S. ― or even Korean ― officials exactly know what the so-called one-shot solution means and how it can be implemented in reality.

The collapse of the communist bloc two decades ago was possible not because of a bargain, however grand it might have been, but because of persistent and painstaking efforts.