Meeting seen as key to effort on the North

A scheduled meeting by the deputy foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan on the North Korean nuclear problem Wednesday in Washington is expected to be a watershed for the international community’s effort to persuade Pyeongyang to give up its ambitions.
The meeting comes after bilateral conferences among the leaders of the three countries, followed by consultations last month to coordinate their positions on the format of multilateral negotiations with the North. South Korea and Japan, which seek to be included in the new round of talks, set to follow the first round held in April, have agreed with the United States that the talks should be expanded.
To maximize the effectiveness of the format, Seoul has taken on the role of mediating between the North and the United States, which have so far remained at opposite poles. Seoul officials said South Korea has proposed that talks should resume with a comprehensive counterproposal to the North’s “bold new proposal” made in April. That counterproposal involves, the officials said, a series of steps that the two sides ― the North and the United States ― should take simultaneously to narrow differences and begin resolving the standoff.
Washington has maintained that no negotiations can begin until Pyeongyang disavows its nuclear intentions; the North has demanded a guarantee of its regime as a condition to engage in further talks. Seoul’s role is in finding the first step on which the two sides can agree.
The officials said that step would likely involve Pyeongyang’s expressing intentions to return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and give up its nuclear program, whereas Washington would offer a security guarantee for the North’s regime and a set of bold approaches that could improve relations between the two countries.
But obstacles remain to the four countries’ acceptance of Seoul’s proposal. Tokyo, for example, cannot afford to leave off the agenda the issue of its civilians abducted and held in the North.

by Oh Young-hwan