North Korea's agreement to return to Six-Party Talks on
denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is a favorable development.
Tuesday's news that North Korea, China and the United States had
agreed to resume talks at a time convenient for all six parties in
the near future represents a positive move towards defusing one of
the world's most dangerous flashpoints.
The international community's affirmative responses to the news
testify to the high expectation the world has of the
negotiations.
China and the United States have worked closely on bringing
North Korea back to the negotiation table for resolving the
protracted conflict over North Korea's nuclear gamesmanship.
US President George W. Bush said he wanted to thank China for
its role.
China began brokering a peaceful compromise in 2003 when the
United States accused North Korea of covertly building atomic
weapons and North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty (NPT).
China has always put most emphasis on a multinational approach,
rather than the more hardline reliance on military pressure.
The decision the three negotiating powers announced on Tuesday
in Beijing is good news for East Asia and for worldwide efforts to
prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
As long as the talks are on, they provide cause for
optimism.
The success in persuading North Korea to return to talks is a
tribute to the international efforts to end the crisis through
dialogue.
The joint statement the six parties, namely China, North Korea,
Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, delivered in
September 2005 was a matter of great relief for not only the six
nations engaged in the prolonged exercise, but also the rest of the
world.
North Korea had agreed to abandon all its nuclear weapons and
existing nuclear programs, rejoin the NPT and accept International
Atomic Energy Agency investigation teams in exchange for energy aid
and security guarantee.
The details of what the six parties are going to discuss at the
future meetings of the talks remain unknown. Difficulties are
predictable because of the lack of trust involved.
However, North Korea's agreement to return to the talks is a
case in point of the possible success in setting up a platform on
which the solution can be exploited.
The joint statement last year was a formal diplomatic document,
and there is a binding force for all signatories.
All the parties concerned in the talks should now move to put
the agreement into action without hitch.
This document carries great significance in providing a stepping
stone for establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the
whole of Northeast Asia.
The diplomacy China and the other countries involved have been
doing is beginning to pay off.
(China Daily November 2, 2006)
