China urged to play more productive role in nuke talks

By Kim Young-jin

The stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s denuclearization will get back on track only if the isolated state is made to feel a deeper economic pinch for its nuclear ambitions, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday, urging China to play a more persuasive role.

“As long as the North Korean leadership feels it can gain economically, it will not give up its nuclear weapons,” Chun Yung-woo, second vice minister of foreign affairs, told a forum in Seoul. “Only when they are convinced that its nuclear weapons capabilities will expedite the end of its regime will it abandon its nuclear program. In this regard, China’s role is very important.”

Hopes for resumption of the talks are raised amid a spate of diplomacy initiated by Beijing, which had recently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who signaled his hope for an early resumption.

Prospects, however, remain murky as Seoul and Washington maintain that the North must prove its genuine intent to denuclearize and ease the tensions that have gripped the peninsula since the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

Seoul and Washington blame the ship incident on a North Korean torpedo attack and each placed country-specific sanctions on the impoverished state. But their efforts to win punitive measures at the U.N. Security Council were blocked by China, the North’s sole major ally and a permanent member of the council.

Pyongyang has yet to make “a strategic decision to denuclearize,” meaning parties to the talks should maintain pressure while staying open to dialogue, Chun said.

“The goal of denuclearizing North Korea cannot be achieved through either sanctions or diplomatic engagement if the two strategies are carried out independently of each other. Sanctions create motivation for dialogue.”

The forum, organized by the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a think tank under the ministry, aimed to address international nuclear issues ahead of Seoul’s hosting of the second Nuclear Security Summit slated for 2012.

The comment echoed those of acting Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo, who Monday said the negotiations should not be “talk for talk’s sake,” during an annual parliamentary audit.

The remarks come as parties to talks consult over how to move the process forward.

At the audit, Shin said Seoul has is engaged in “various consultations with related countries in order make substantial progress in case the six-party talks resume.” The efforts could include various bilateral and multilateral talks, including inter-Korean talks, within the six-party framework, he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is due in Seoul Thursday where he is expected to hold high-level consultations on issues related to North Korea. These will likely including the North’s recent naming of Kim Jong-il’s youngest son as heir apparent and the implications on its nuclear program.

The denuclearization talks, which also include Japan and Russia, have been stalled since 2009 when the North walked away in response to U.N. sanctions imposed over missile and nuclear tests.