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Pressure North Korea to revive 6-way talks
(Yomiuri Shimbun, The (Tokyo) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The following editorial appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday, April 14:
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Separate bilateral discussions recently held in Tokyo by chief negotiators to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program made no progress in overcoming the impasse in the nuclear dispute.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan reiterated his country's assertion that Washington must end financial sanctions against his country if it wants the six-way talks reopened.
During a news conference on Thursday, he said that if the United States imposed sanctions and pressure, North Korea would take a "hard-line" approach.
Pyongyang's attitude will only cause the international community to exert even greater pressure on it.
A joint statement issued at the six-nation talks in September called for resolving the controversy through peaceful means. But international efforts to settle the dispute through dialogue are bound to remain bogged down if North Korea refuses to rejoin the talks.
The U.S. decision to impose financial sanctions on the reclusive communist state is unrelated to the six-party negotiations. Pyongyang should no longer be allowed to hinder efforts to restart the talks by finding fault with the actions of the other countries that are party to the talks.
In September, the United States imposed sanctions against a Macao bank, accusing it of assisting North Korea in illegal activities. Washington had every reason to clamp down on those engaged in counterfeiting U.S. dollars and laundering money for North Korea under domestic laws.
The U.S. ban on transactions between the Macao bank and U.S. financial institutions has cost the bank international trust, forcing it to freeze a Pyongyang-linked bank account and putting investigations into the matter into the hands of the authorities.
According to Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, the bank account in question holds $20 million, or about 2.4 billion yen. The amount is equivalent to the bill for energy consumption in North Korea for a week.
Japan, the United States and three other participants in the six-way talks have said they are willing to extend energy aid to North Korea and improve relations with that country if Pyongyang scraps its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea should know it will gain nothing if it insists on the lifting of the U.S. sanctions. On the other hand, it will benefit greatly by making a solemn promise to scrap its nuclear weapons program during the six-party talks.
It is all too obvious which option would serve North Korea's interests. Pyongyang's tenacious attempt to delay a new round of talks apparently shows it has no intention of abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea's nuclear weapons development is continuing amid a stalemate in the six-country negotiations. Specialists presume the communist nation may possess enough plutonium to produce about 10 nuclear weapons. Operations at its plutonium production reactor continue. All this indicates North Korea is determined to make more nuclear weapons while the six-way talks are at a standstill.
The five other countries that are party to the talks will have no choice but to take a tougher line with North Korea if it refuses to return to the negotiating table.
There are growing calls in the United States for taking tougher sanctions against Pyongyang to force it to scrap its nuclear weapons program. Later this month, the U.S. Congress is scheduled to hold public hearings on the North Korean problem. The current gridlock in the six-nation talks likely will expedite efforts by Japanese legislators to create a law that would require the government to impose sanctions against North Korea if its record of human rights violations are judged not to have improved.
A U.S.-China summit meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday. The U.S. and Chinese leaders should put together workable measures to help move the six-way talks forward. The two nations have a heavy responsibility to fulfill as permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. If the six-party talks collapse, it means the Security Council will have to impose sanctions on North Korea.
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(c) 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun.
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