Peace Process

North Korea Needs To Faithfully Declare Its Nuclear Program

A group of U.S. nuclear experts began Monday to disable nuclear facilities in North Korea. Their mission is very significant as it is the first action taken in accordance with the Oct. 3 agreement made at the six-party talks aimed at finding a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. We hope the disablement process will proceed smoothly in order to realize the long-awaited goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is advised to faithfully declare its nuclear program to resolve any lingering suspicions on its nuclear ambitions.

Against this backdrop, we believe it is desirable for the relevant parties to focus on the denuclearization of North Korea to pave the way for the envisioned setup of a peace process. President Roh Moo-hyun said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun that there should be a declaration for the official end to the Korean War to begin the process of peace and denuclearization. Kim Man-bok, the head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), echoed Roh by saying: ``A war termination declaration should be the starting point of peace talks.''

It is not totally desirable for the spy chief to reveal his own opinion on a controversial issue due to the necessity for him to carry out his mission in a confidential manner. The statements by Roh and Kim run counter to the remarks by Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Song Min-soon, who emphasized negotiations for a peace system on the Korean Peninsula should kick off after North Korea declares its nuclear programs.

``North Korea first needs to declare its nuclear items to be inspected by experts. Then a disablement process will follow and there will be talks for the normalization of the North's relations with the United States and Japan. So then is the right time for a peace system discussion,'' he said. We believe Song's statement is rational and highly feasible.

Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator to the multilateral talks, said the U.S. position is upon substantial disablement. ``We hope to begin a peace negotiation process that will result in a final peace arrangement when North Korea finally abandons its nuclear weapons program pursuant to the September 2005 agreement,'' he said.

The Roh administration should not hurry with a declaration for the end of war as it can be taken as politically motivated. And such efforts will end in failure without the consent from the United States and China. Hastening the declaration will only result in discord with the U.S. Some critics assert that Cheong Wa Dae has been seeking the war ending declaration in an attempt to create an environment favorable to Chung Dong-young, the presidential candidate of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP).