By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan gave a grave assessment of North Korea's denuclearization process, observing that the effort has regressed back to square one.
South Korea's top diplomatic official shared his somber view at an alumni gathering for the Seoul National University's department of politics and diplomacy, in Seoul, Friday.
``For the foreseeable future, our most important diplomatic challenge will be attempting to address the North Korean nuclear issue," Yu remarked. ``The North's denuclearization has returned to the starting point, back to square one. We are facing a difficult situation and we need to devote more diplomatic effort and resources into resolving this problem."
Yu observed that while Pyongyang had previously agreed to disable and abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for economic and energy assistance, ``the North is now going back on its word."
``The North has begun putting its nuclear facilities back together. The denuclearization effort has run into a difficult situation."
Yu noted that he had convened a meeting with U.S. State Secretary Condolezza Rice on Sept. 22 to examine this development and discuss possible responses. He had also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to talk about the nuclear standoff. ``We all agreed on the need to step up our respective diplomatic efforts to resolve this challenge."
He added that a shrewd political calculation may be behind North Korea's decision to reverse its denuclearization and reassemble nuclear facilities. ``Pyongyang officials may be thinking strategically, that they should wait out the upcoming U.S. presidential election," Yu said. But, he added, ``It's hard to speculate which U.S. presidential candidate will claim the White House. Still, regardless of who wins the election, there won't be any major adjustments in the way Washington approaches the North Korean nuclear issue."
Yu also commented on China's role in possibly helping to resolve the ongoing nuclear standoff. ``In this rapidly changing diplomatic environment, China's role takes on a new importance," he observed. ``We believe it is crucial that South Korea, the United States and China work side-by-side to deal with this ongoing challenge."
He added that the six-party negotiation represents the most effective international framework for working toward resolving the North's nuclear issue. ``And also in the long term, this six-party structure could play an essential role in addressing the East Asian region's security concerns."