Preparing for Round 5 With North Korea

A three-week recess in talks aimed at eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons program allows negotiators from six nations to return home, consult with their governments and come back with a renewed commitment to make a deal.

Although diplomats say the atmosphere for the talks has been good, it is equally possible that progress made in the last two weeks will be frittered away as the sense of urgency dissipates, particularly given North Korea’s mercurial track record.

There may have been little alternative to taking a break. Toward the end of the marathon 13 days of talks, during which negotiators consumed 2,000 cups of coffee and 530 pounds of pastries to keep going, it became clear even another 13 days probably wouldn’t resolve the differences.

Chinese chief negotiator Wu Dawei told reporters Sunday that more progress had been achieved in this fourth round of talks involving the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and China than during the last three combined.

Most of it falls under the headings of atmospherics, narrowing of gaps, clarifying of positions. Given the stakes, however, any agreement to end the nuclear threat from Pyongyang will probably be regarded as worth the long wait and frequent setbacks. Some security experts estimate North Korea has stockpiled enough plutonium to produce nine nuclear weapons.

North Korea pushed the talks toward a recess by raising a new condition 10 days in: Any final statement must acknowledge its right to a light-water nuclear reactor to generate power for civilian purposes.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead U.S. negotiator, told reporters Sunday that the first five days of the talks showed promise, with the outlines of an agreement coming into sight. The next five days were less positive, but diplomats still hoped to reach an agreement. “Toward the end, [North Korea] looked for specific mention of a light-water nuclear reactor, something that none of the other delegations could go along with,” Hill said. The U.S. and others are concerned about Pyongyang’s record of converting its research reactor at Yongbyon for weapons use.

A senior U.S. official involved in the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared that the North Korean delegation didn’t have the authority to go further. Raising the light-water reactor issue appeared to be a way to stall for time, he added.

“I think they ... gave us an offer we had to refuse and create the circumstances for this recess,” he said. “One gets the impression people back in Pyongyang have still not dragged themselves over the line to give [their nuclear weapons] up. But I think we’re closer than ever before.”

In a rare news conference in North Korea’s hulking embassy, adorned with easels plastered with photos of “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il, senior North Korean negotiator Kim Gye Gwan blamed the Americans.

“The parties concerned in this issue asked us to forgo the right for peaceful nuclear activity,” Kim said. “I didn’t expect that the U.S. would come up with such a position.”

Kim said South Korea must not possess nuclear arms and that outside parties, a reference to the U.S., must not introduce them to the Korean peninsula.

“Our concept of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula doesn’t mean removing nuclear weapons from our side only,” said the North Korean official.

Still, the North Korean negotiator’s tone was free of the fiery rhetoric seen at the end of previous talks. Delegation members said that was consistent with the general tenor of the talks. “This round of sessions provided us with a foundation for the future,” Kim said. “We’ve reached a common understanding of settling the final goal ... of denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.”

Although the light-water reactor is the most obvious sticking point, it isn’t the only one.

Timing is another major hurdle, including when North Korea would receive aid and other benefits in return for giving up its weapons program and when the U.S. might normalize relations with Pyongyang.

Another issue is North Korea’s willingness to abide by the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and submit to monitoring and verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But Hill, a veteran of the 1995 Bosnian peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, said most other issues seemed less of an impediment than the dismantling of Pyongyang’s weapons program and its demand for a light-water reactor.

“When the talks resume, we will focus our negotiations on this issue,” echoed South Korea’s envoy, Song Min Soon.

Hill said U.S. negotiators presented North Korea with a clear picture of what benefits it could expect if it renounced nuclear arms.

In another small sign of progress, North Korean and Japanese officials met Sunday over Pyongyang’s abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. Tokyo is seeking more information on the missing. The North Koreans had for months refused to meet.

There was no immediate result, but Kim, the North Korean envoy, said he would relay Japan’s concerns back to Pyongyang.

Hill said North Korean leaders might be more ready to complete a deal on the nuclear issues after hearing about the impasse in the talks from their negotiators. Another hope is that having China, South Korea, Japan and Russia exert pressure on Pyongyang in the interim, even as Washington and Pyongyang keep channels open, will help narrow differences.