By Kim Young-jin
South Korea and the United States agreed Wednesday that North Korea must prove its genuine intent to denuclearize and engage with the South before multilateral denuclearization talks can resume.
The stance was formulated during talks in Seoul between Stephen Bosworth, U.S special envoy on North Korea, and Wi Sung-lac, the chief South Korean nuclear negotiator, that addressed prospects for the resumption of the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization.
“The two sides shared the understanding that future six-party talks should not be talks for talks’ sake and, most importantly, that the North should show sincerity about denuclearization,” a high-ranking Seoul official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The allies agreed the North’s recently-disclosed uranium enrichment activities deserve a “stern response” from the international community and that the two Koreas must improve relations before any resumption of the forum, he said.
Bosworth also met with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan before heading to China late Wednesday. He is slated to wrap up his Asia trip after talks in Tokyo today.
On Tuesday, Bosworth called for “serious negotiations” as the main strategy to deal with the North upon arriving in Seoul, expressing hope for a “reasonably early” resumption of the forum.
His trip comes amid a spate of diplomacy over the long-stalled talks as regional players work to foster an environment for their resumption.
Bosworth was tight-lipped about the content of the meeting.
Regional tension remains high after the North shelled a South Korean island in November after disclosing a sprawling uranium enrichment facility that could potentially produce nuclear warheads.
North Korea is expected to be a top agenda item when U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao meet in a summit later this month in Washington. The outcome of Bosworth’s trip is expected to figure into the talks.
Obama met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi this week at the White House as part of preparations for Hu’s visit.
South Korean officials have indicated that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are in synch as to what the North has to do in order to see the talks resumed, with Moscow largely on the same page.
The halting of Pyongyang’s nuclear development and allowing international nuclear monitors back into the country are reportedly among the conditions. Officials here say further alignment with Beijing will be sought ahead of the Obama-Hu summit.
Both Koreas have signaled their willingness to reengage in bilateral and multilateral talks.
On Wednesday, the North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper ran a commentary calling for the “confrontation” between the Koreas to be solved.
“Inter-Korean relations can neither be improved nor can efforts to achieve reconciliation and cooperation prove successful nor can peace be preserved as long as the said relations remain in the state of confrontation and on the brink of war without dialogue, contact and cooperation,” it said.
On Monday, President Lee Myung-bak said the “door for dialogue is still open” if the North shows seriousness of purpose and that Seoul is ready to provide aid to the impoverished state if it chooses to do so.
The six-way talks, seen as the best forum to manage the North, have been stalled since 2009, when the North walked away over international sanctions imposed for its nuclear and missile tests.
Hopes for their resumption were dashed twice last year, by the North’s presumed sinking in March of a South Korean warship and the shelling incident, which in total killed 50 people.
China, the North’s main benefactor, has urgently called for resumption of the talks in a bid to de-escalate tension after the artillery attack.
But Washington and Seoul have maintained their stance that the North has to prove its genuine intent to denuclearize before coming back to the table, saying they do not want to reward it for its provocative behavior.