S. Korea, US, Japan coordinate NK strategy

By Kim Young-jin

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo were slated to hold trilateral talks Thursday in Bali to fine-tune their joint stance on the North Korea nuclear problem, a Seoul official said.

The coordination meeting comes after the United States and North Korea last month narrowed differences but reached no agreement over how to resume six-nation talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, during talks in Geneva.

Lim Sung-nam, Seoul’s chief envoy to the denuclearization forum, his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama and Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, are expected to lead the meeting.

“The three diplomats are expected to jointly assess the outcome of last month’s bilateral meeting in Geneva between the U.S. and North Korea, and exchange views on the direction of future dialogue,” Yonhap News Agency quoted the unnamed official as saying.

Parties remain apart over how to the resume the six-party talks, which also involve Russia and China, after they fell apart in 2009 when the North walked away over international sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo want Pyongyang to halt its uranium enrichment program (UEP) and allow U.N. inspectors to verify the suspension before negotiations resume. The North wants to return to the table without preconditions.

After the talks in Geneva, both the United States and North Korea indicated some progress had been made, without elaborating.

Observers said given the positive atmosphere surrounding those talks, Seoul, Washington and Japan could explore ways to be flexible in order to keep building momentum toward resumption.

The six-party talks, which also involve Russia and China, have been stalled since 2009 when the North triggered tensions last year by waging two deadly attacks on the South.

Efforts to restart the forum have picked up pace since July, when the two Koreas sat down for surprise denuclearization talks. Those paved the way for two rounds of U.S.-North Korea meetings. Analysts said the United States is eager to see the six-way talks resume in a bid to stave off further provocations from Pyongyang.

Seoul has pledged to respond strongly next time, raising fears of further escalation of tension.

The Stalinist state is believed to have stockpiled enough plutonium to build several atomic bombs.

Analysts remain skeptical over whether the North would ever give up its nuclear status even if negotiations resume, saying it would be difficult for the regime to relinquish the program that has become its greatest bargaining chip and claim to deterrence.