By Donald P. Gregg

At the recently concluded nuclear security summit in Seoul, President Barack Obama frequently praised South Korea, and President Lee Myung-bak, for actions taken as a strong American ally. He took an entirely different tone toward North Korea.

The President criticized Pyongyang for having apparently violated an agreement signed with Washington at the end of February in Beijing, in which it was stated that in return for food aid, North Korea would “implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests, and nuclear activities at Yongbyon.”

Shortly after that agreement was signed, Pyongyang announced that it would seek to launch a satellite around April 15, the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il-sung.

They assert, orally and in writing, that they had made it clear in the Beijing talks that the moratorium on long range missiles did not include their “peaceful satellite launch.”

The President, understandably, saw the North Korean announcement as breaking the recently concluded Beijing agreement, and wondered if it meant that the old Pyongyang hard-liners were still making the decisions, and not the newly-anointed young leader Kim Jong-un.

In an unusual “Track II” conference in New York, held on March 8 and 9, voices speaking for the new generation of leaders in the North were clearly heard.

Attendees at the “Conference on Peace and Cooperation in Northeast Asia,” with German, American and South Korean sponsorship, heard senior North Koreans call for an end to conflict between North Korea and the United States and the beginning of a new relationship dedicated to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Eight nations were represented at the conference; the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia, Mongolia, Germany and the United States.

The conference was held under the Chatham House Rule, which prohibits specific details being given about who said what. I am able to say that I attended the conference, and was deeply impressed by what I saw and heard, particularly from the Germans and the North Koreans. Sen. John Kerry was observed leaving the conference, and briefly spoke to the press in a positive vein about his participation.

It seems clear that a major miscommunication and/or misunderstanding took place in Beijing. As the New York Times put it on March 28, “How the two sides could have reached a deal despite such a disagreement remains unclear.”

My first trip to North Korea took place 10 years ago, and I am all too familiar with past errors made by both Washington and Pyongyang as attempts to establish prolonged dialogue have repeatedly failed. To avoid another complete breakdown in communications taking place, I urge that three steps be taken: First, that North Korea should immediately make it clear that they intend to honor their commitment not to conduct further nuclear tests.

Second, the United States should not oppose the sending of technically qualified observers to the North Korean satellite launch.

Third, that the United States send Kerry as an envoy to Pyongyang, to discuss how better relations can be established between our two countries.

The senator has an open invitation to travel to North Korea, and he is highly qualified to do so. His appearance there would validate the thinking of those officials who spoke in New York and others in Pyongyang, who recognize the need for changed policies in their country.

At the same time his visit would undercut and weaken the position of hard-liners in North Korea, who are strongly opposed to any change that might weaken their current influential positions.

The sending of Kerry, or any high ranking official, to Pyongyang, will no doubt be criticized by American hard-liners still pressing for regime change in North Korea. Too often in the past, the thinking of these people has derailed efforts to establish meaningful dialogue with Pyongyang. That should not be allowed to happen again.

Donald P. Gregg is chairman of the board of the Pacific Century Institute. He was national security advisor to Vice President George H.W. Bush (1982-88) and ambassador to South Korea (1989-93).