By Choi Sung-jin
As North Korea speeds up its nuclear weapons development program, some U.S. experts have called for direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, stressing sanctions without negotiations will not work.
"Watching North Korea push ahead with nuclear tests, missile launches and the production of nuclear materials recently, it clearly shows, as in the past, the policy of sanctions without negotiations will never work," said Leon V. Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York.
At an international conference in Seoul Monday to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the second inter-Korean summit on Oct. 4, 2007, Sigal also said: "If we force the North Korean government to take part in a dialogue on our terms, no dialogue will be made."
The former official at the U.S. Department of State recalled that North Korea proposed to suspend nuclear tests temporarily if the United States put off joint military drills with South Korea, but Washington rejected the proposal in a few hours. "According to unofficial sources, however, North Korea was ready then to suspend not only nuclear tests but also missile launches and the production of nuclear materials," he said.
"Only reciprocal steps can stop nuclear experiments and launches of missiles and satellites."
Noting that what the U.S. and South Korea should want is not regime change in the North but peace on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. expert said: "In this regard, the allies should not only negotiate and reconcile with Pyongyang but also normalize political and economic ties with it."
Some think Kim Jong-un would take steps because of severe economic difficulties in North Korea but the North's economy has actually grown little by little under Kim's governance over the past several years, Sigal said. "Kim wants peace on this peninsula if for no other purpose than reducing military spending and improving North Koreans' standard of living," he said.
"The only way to reduce the risks of additional military clashes on the Korean Peninsula is the peace process made simultaneously with the denuclearization of North Korea, not steps made before and after it. The allies ought to try new negotiations to repeal the North's nuclear and missile programs and, at the same time, push for three major goals of political normalization, deep economic involvement and regional cooperation on security, as manifested in the Sept. 19, 2005, joint statement."
Meanwhile, two other U.S. experts also said the United States should hold direct talks with North Korea to negotiate a freeze on the communist nation's nuclear and missile programs first before seeking to dismantle them.
Jane Harman, a former congresswoman who now heads the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, made the case in a joint article with the center's Korea expert, James Person, arguing that sanctions cannot force the North to end its nuclear program.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," the experts said in a sharp swipe at the U.S. policy of seeking change in the North's behavior through sanctions and Chinese pressure.
The experts said the U.S. should "demonstrate some flexibility" and take security concerns about Pyongyang into consideration. They said the North learned a lesson from the Iraq War and NATO intervention in Libya, which was that no outlier state without nuclear deterrence is safe.
"While the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains the long-term goal, we propose using this U.S. leverage to enter into talks with Pyongyang with the stated goal of negotiating a freeze of all North Korean nuclear and long-range missile tests and a return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors," the experts said.
"Realistically, this can only be achieved through direct talks with North Korea, not a return to a six-party process that evoked too much mistrust among key stakeholders, especially between Pyongyang and Beijing," they added.
As North Korea speeds up its nuclear weapons development program, some U.S. experts have called for direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, stressing sanctions without negotiations will not work.
"Watching North Korea push ahead with nuclear tests, missile launches and the production of nuclear materials recently, it clearly shows, as in the past, the policy of sanctions without negotiations will never work," said Leon V. Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York.
At an international conference in Seoul Monday to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the second inter-Korean summit on Oct. 4, 2007, Sigal also said: "If we force the North Korean government to take part in a dialogue on our terms, no dialogue will be made."
The former official at the U.S. Department of State recalled that North Korea proposed to suspend nuclear tests temporarily if the United States put off joint military drills with South Korea, but Washington rejected the proposal in a few hours. "According to unofficial sources, however, North Korea was ready then to suspend not only nuclear tests but also missile launches and the production of nuclear materials," he said.
"Only reciprocal steps can stop nuclear experiments and launches of missiles and satellites."
Noting that what the U.S. and South Korea should want is not regime change in the North but peace on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. expert said: "In this regard, the allies should not only negotiate and reconcile with Pyongyang but also normalize political and economic ties with it."
Some think Kim Jong-un would take steps because of severe economic difficulties in North Korea but the North's economy has actually grown little by little under Kim's governance over the past several years, Sigal said. "Kim wants peace on this peninsula if for no other purpose than reducing military spending and improving North Koreans' standard of living," he said.
"The only way to reduce the risks of additional military clashes on the Korean Peninsula is the peace process made simultaneously with the denuclearization of North Korea, not steps made before and after it. The allies ought to try new negotiations to repeal the North's nuclear and missile programs and, at the same time, push for three major goals of political normalization, deep economic involvement and regional cooperation on security, as manifested in the Sept. 19, 2005, joint statement."
Meanwhile, two other U.S. experts also said the United States should hold direct talks with North Korea to negotiate a freeze on the communist nation's nuclear and missile programs first before seeking to dismantle them.
Jane Harman, a former congresswoman who now heads the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, made the case in a joint article with the center's Korea expert, James Person, arguing that sanctions cannot force the North to end its nuclear program.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," the experts said in a sharp swipe at the U.S. policy of seeking change in the North's behavior through sanctions and Chinese pressure.
The experts said the U.S. should "demonstrate some flexibility" and take security concerns about Pyongyang into consideration. They said the North learned a lesson from the Iraq War and NATO intervention in Libya, which was that no outlier state without nuclear deterrence is safe.
"While the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains the long-term goal, we propose using this U.S. leverage to enter into talks with Pyongyang with the stated goal of negotiating a freeze of all North Korean nuclear and long-range missile tests and a return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors," the experts said.
"Realistically, this can only be achieved through direct talks with North Korea, not a return to a six-party process that evoked too much mistrust among key stakeholders, especially between Pyongyang and Beijing," they added.
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