The Six-Party Talks: A Critical Assessment and Implications for South Korea’s Policy Toward North Korea

Abstract

In February 2005, North Korea declared that it had no intention to continuethe Six-Party Talks and already possessed nuclear weapons, and asked the UnitedStates to abandon its hostile policy. South Korea, the United States, and China havemade strenuous efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialog. InSeptember 2005, the fourth round of the Six-Party Talks dramatically adopted thejoint statement, which provides a fundamental principle to resolve the decadeoldNorth Korean nuclear issue.At the joint statement North Korea agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons andall nuclear programs. South Korea, the United States, China, and Japan expressedtheir willingness to provide energy assistance to North Korea. They also agreed todiscuss the provision of the LWR to the North at an appropriate time. However, theSix-Party Talks has been stalemated since the first round of the fifth such talks dueto North Koreas demand for provision of a light-water reactor (LWR) before anyimplementation of the joint statement.To resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, a step-by-step approach might bedesirable. At the first phase, all countries that signed on the joint statement shouldexert every effort to build favorable conditions for the North to implement the jointstatement. North Korea must return to the NPT and accept IAEA inspection andrelated countries must prepare to give energy assistance to the North. At the secondphase, North Korea must begin nuclear dismantlement process, and the UnitedStates and Japan need to improve their relations with North Korea. At the thirdphase North Korea must complete nuclear dismantlement, and the United States,Japan and North Korea must normalize their diplomatic relations.The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis , Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Spring 2006