ed NK's change of course?

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong will visit New York next week to attend the signing ceremony of a landmark U.N. climate agreement.

His trip draws attention as it would mark Ri’s first since tensions increased following the reclusive state’s nuclear and missile tests and the U.N.’s subsequent adoption of stronger sanctions. More notable is why the North would send its top diplomat to a ceremony attended mostly by environment officials.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be present at the meeting, prompting speculation that North Korea decided to dispatch Ri with a possible meeting with Kerry in mind. It is unclear, however, if their dialogue will be realized, given that the State Department has not commented on that yet.

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s young leader, has every reason to pursue talks with the United States. More than anything, the impoverished state apparently intends to escape international sanctions through diplomacy. Kim’s such intentions can be read in a (North Korean) National Defense Commission statement in early April that “establishing negotiations is a more fundamental solution than reckless military pressure.’’

It is no secret that the North has been rattled since the U.N. sanctions were imposed, as evidenced by the mass defection of North Korean waitresses in the Chinese coastal city of Ningbo last week. Kim might feel the urgency of restoring the framework of dialogue before the Workers’ Party congress, which will be held for the first time in 36 years next month.

Of course, the resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks would not lead to an immediate breakthrough in the stalled negotiations. Meeting the press during his visit to Hiroshima earlier this week, Kerry said the U.S. was prepared to negotiate a peace treaty and a non-aggression agreement. But he made it clear that denuclearization is a prerequisite to discussing the peace treaty.

This means North Korea can obtain nothing from the international community unless it shows fundamental changes in its nuclear ambitions.

What is crucial after all is whether Pyongyang can change its course. Kim should face up to the reality that the North cannot escape its self-imposed international isolation as long as he does not awaken from the illusion of being a nuclear state.