EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on June 16)

5-way talks idea

President Lee Myung-bak left for a visit to Washington yesterday at the
invitation of President Barack Obama. The two leaders' talks at the White House
are of greater significance than any previous such meetings as they are expected
to explore how the problems of the Korean Peninsula should fit into the new U.S.

president's global peace and non-proliferation vision.
North Korea's Kim Jong-il is helping raise the importance of the Washington
summit with his threats of further weaponization of plutonium, embarking on a
highly enriched uranium program and military action against any attempt at
blockade, in response to the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 1874. They were
the toughest ever challenge to the international community by the nuclear power
aspirant, which has conducted nuclear tests twice since October 2006.
Prior to his departure for the United States, Lee revealed his new approach to
resolving the North Korean nuclear question by suggesting a five-party formula
excluding the North to replace the stalled six-party talks. He said in an
interview with a U.S. newspaper that North Korea gained time to pursue its goals
through the six-party process and that now it is important for the remaining five
parties to come to an agreement on the way forward.
Obama, who has concentrated his diplomatic efforts during the early months of his
presidency on the Middle East and the Americas, has not shown any noteworthy
initiative toward North Korea despite apparent courtship from Pyongyang. Lee's
five-party idea could now match well with what is seen as Obama's calculated
ignorance of the North.
The basic notion seems to be that concerted pressure on the North from the other
parties would be better than an unfulfilled agreement by the six nations. Yet, we
wonder how effective an agreement among the five parties alone will be in the
absence of a link to the North. Can we expect Beijing to provide a useful channel
despite its disappointing role as the chair of the six-party talks over the past
six years?
Here, the necessity of direct bilateral contact between the United States and
North Korea at whatever level should be raised to complement the five-party
formula. If Presidents Lee and Obama agree on renewing North Korean
denuclearization efforts through the new format, they need to keep open other
channels of dialogue in order to communicate with the North. Both isolation and
engagement should be employed in handling the problem on the Korean Peninsula as
elsewhere in the world.
North Korea has shown all its cards in gambling with international society. The
directly concerned parties had better maintain strategic flexibility in trying to
resolve a most complex problem such as this.
(END)