Lee softens stance on resuming 6-way talks

Expectations grow for possible turnaround in S-N ties

By Na Jeong-ju

President Lee Myung-bak expressed hope Wednesday that the North Korean nuclear issue will be settled next year under the six-nation disarmament framework, hinting at a change of strategy for the stalled talks, which he had described as being ineffective as long as the North remained out of control.

He also called for the need to strengthen diplomacy with China and Russia, which had opposed Seoul’s move to seek international punishment for the North’s recent deadly attacks on South Korea, presidential aides said.

The remarks were in stark contrast to the negative view he had previously had on the prospect of the multilateral negotiations. He had rejected China’s calls to revive the six-party talks to help defuse military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The apparent change of position also signals that Lee may soften his hard-line stance on North Korea to seek inter-Korean dialogue and ease their military confrontation.

North Korea has demanded an early resumption of the six-nation talks, which had served as a major source of resources and food for the poor country since being launched in 2003 under an aid-for-denuclearization promise that has not been fulfilled.

The South has maintained that the North should show sincerity in addressing its attacks on the South and apologize first to restart the talks. The North Korean military torpedoed a South Korean Navy vessel in March, killing 46 sailors, and shelled a border island leaving two marines and two civilians dead.

“The six-party talks are the best existing diplomatic channel available for us to make North Korea give up its nuclear weapons program,” Lee said during a year-end briefing on next year’s foreign policies by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“The six nations concerned should address the nuclear threat successfully next year because the North vowed to become a strong and prosperous country by 2012. Seoul should play an important role in denuclearizing Pyongyang.”

In 2012, North Korea marks the centennial of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the nation’s founder and father of the current leader Kim Jong-il. North Korea experts forecast that the reclusive country will officially designate Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s third son who was recently promoted to a top military post, as his successor in that year.

“We must engage in both multilateral and bilateral efforts to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program,” Lee said.

Cheong Wa Dae said Lee stressed the need for dialogue with China and Russia to find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue as well as maintain peace on the peninsula at the meeting.

“It is not desirable to view the six-party talks as a duel between the U.S., South Korea and Japan, and China, Russia and North Korea,” Lee was quoted as saying by his spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung. “Such a dichotomous way of thinking is not helpful in cementing peace on the peninsula and achieving reunification of the two Koreas in the future.”

A diplomatic source said it is the time for the South to reshape its diplomacy with the North’s traditional allies to prepare for a possible collapse of the military-controlled nation. Lee has called for the need to introduce a “unification tax” as part of contingency plans and recently said that a surging number of North Korean people had fled their country.

At a separate policy briefing session by the Unification Ministry, Lee ruled out the possibility of “absorbing” North Korea, saying the reunification of the two Koreas should be achieved peacefully.

The source said there has been active communication among the nations to move the denuclearization process forward and deal with the inter-Korean tensions, but it doesn’t guarantee a turnaround in inter-Korean relations.

“Some positive changes may occur on the peninsula in line with the revitalizing diplomacy among the concerned nations on the nuclear problem,” he said on condition of anonymity. “However, the situation won’t improve at all unless the North doesn’t change its behavior.”