The United States and North Korea are expected to hold a working group meeting late this month or early next month to discuss ways to normalize bilateral diplomatic ties in line with Pyongyang's dismantling of its nuclear weapons programs. South Korean media reported that the normalization talks are likely to take place in Europe, possibly Berlin, although Washington has yet to confirm the venue and date for the meeting.
Nuclear envoys from the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia are also scheduled to attend a two-day working group on concrete steps toward Pyongyang's denuclearization. The meeting opens in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang today. Negotiators will try to map out a timetable for the North to declare and dismantle all of its nuclear facilities.
In separate developments, the two Koreas plan to hold a second summit in Pyongyang from Aug. 28-30. President Roh Moo-hyun and his northern counterpart Kim Jong-ill is likely to discuss ways of establishing a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and expand economic cooperation to promote national reconciliation. Some critics attack the Roh administration for trying to put North's denuclearization issue on the back burner at the request of the North.
President Roh ought to let the North reaffirm its nuclear disarmament commitment before promising massive economic aid to the impoverished Stalinist country. Some analysts claim that the Kim Jong-il regime might use the summit as a bargaining chip to pressure the U.S. to drop its anti-North Korean policy and mend ties with the longtime foe.
Despite significant progress in the North's denuclearization, it is premature to expect an immediate breakthrough in diplomatic normalization between the U.S. and North Korea. However, there are positive signs the two sides are moving toward normalization. President George W. Bush has already eased his hard-line stance on the North, which he once labeled part of the ``Axis of Evil.''
The change came following the Republican Party's defeat in mid-term elections last year and setbacks in the Iraq war. This softened position has helped Pyongyang agree on the complete disabling of its nuclear facilities at the six-nation talks in Beijing in February. In return for the denuclearization, the U.S. and other countries promised to provide heavy fuel oil, economic aid and diplomatic incentives.
Some experts said that President Bush needs to make a breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear problem to make up for his policy blunders in Iraq and other issues before the 2008 presidential election. In the latest positive developments, the U.S. is considering providing aid to North Korea through the United Nations, following floods that reportedly left more than 200 people dead or missing. The Stalinist country recently invited the New York Philharmonic to play in Pyongyang. The orchestra is mulling over accepting the invitation. These moves might help create a favorable atmosphere for the two sides to build up trust and set up diplomatic relations.
However, the U.S. and North Korea will have to overcome a series of thorny issues. Pyongyang want Washington to exclude it from a list of states sponsoring terrorism and lift economic sanctions under a special U.S. law limiting trade with enemy countries. North Korea will have to make sincere efforts to completely scrap its nuclear arms programs in a bid to get economic and diplomatic compensation from the U.S., South Korea and other six-party nations.