A flurry of talks are taking place over North Korean denuclearization following the recent conclusion of the Iranian nuclear deal.
On Monday, Sydney Seiler, U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks on North Korean denuclearization, met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Gunn, director general for North Korean nuclear affairs at the Foreign Ministry. From Seoul, Seiler traveled to Beijing where he is to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart. From there, he will go on to Tokyo to hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart. A three-way meeting of Kim, Seiler and Shigeki Takizaki, Japan’s nuclear envoy, is expected to take place Friday.
In the meantime, Seoul’s top delegate to the six-party talks, Hwang Joon-kook visited China last week where he met with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei and other officials and experts to get their opinions and assessment of the North Korean nuclear situation.
With the conclusion of the Iranian nuclear deal, the world’s attention has now shifted to Kim Jong-un’s North Korea, the other rogue state with nuclear ambitions. Some observers have said that the Iranian nuclear deal could serve as a blueprint for a North Korean denuclearization deal. Kim, clearly aware of the renewed attention on the regime’s nuclear weapons development program, flatly said that Iran-type nuclear deal is unacceptable for Pyongyang.
A week after the Iranian nuclear deal lifted economic sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, Pyongyang said it “is not interested at all in the dialogue to discuss the issue of making it freeze or dismantle its nuclear weapons unilaterally.” North Korea argues that it is already a nuclear weapons state and hence different from Iran.
Seiler, in Seoul, sought to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, saying that the U.S. is open to dialogue with North Korea and is willing to discuss a range of issues. Following his meeting with South Korean nuclear envoys, Seiler pointed out that the recent Iranian deal “provides an excellent example of the United States’ flexibility and willingness” to engage with countries with whom it has longstanding differences.
The last six-party talks took place in 2008 and Pyongyang has conducted two additional nuclear tests since then -- one in 2009 and another in 2013. The first nuclear test was conducted in 2006. Although the talks have been criticized as having given North Korea time to make further progress on its nuclear weapons program, South Korea, U.S., Russia, China and Japan, the five other countries in the six-party talks, are still committed to the talks.
In the meantime, North Korea appears to be preparing to launch a new long-range rocket, possibly in October to mark the founding of the Workers’ Party on Oct. 10. Such a test would be considered a ballistic missile test in violation of a U.N. resolution and could result in additional sanctions against the communist state.
Seiler said that the Iran deal demonstrated the value and possibilities that negotiations bring and urged Pyongyang to “choose a different path.” The following day, the North Korean ambassador to China blamed the United States’ hostile policies for the failure to open dialogues. Pyongyang appears bent on playing the tired old game of assigning blame to other countries for the long-stalled six party talks.
Last week, the U.S. blacklisted a Singaporean shipping company for allegedly assisting a North Korean firm conducting illicit arms shipments. Pyongyang’s leaders should sit up and take note that the U.S., even as it attempts to open dialogue with North Korea, will be relentless in pursing economic sanctions against the country. That is the reality that Pyongyang should consider before boasting about its status as a nuclear power.
