[imText1]The U.S.-North Korea working group formed to reconcile the hostile relations held its first meeting and officially ended on the 6th (local time), to what many agree was a satisfactory meeting.
Immediately following the talks, U.S. representative Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs, Christopher Hill revealed that the talks were “very good, very businesslike, very comprehensive.” Meanwhile, North Korea’s representative, Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan expressed similar feelings as Assistant Secretary Hill, inciting optimism for the future. Overall, the meeting lasted 8 hours with the two representatives agreeing that they had said all they had wanted to say.
However, though there did not seem to be any major disputes to arise from the meeting, many argue that there still is a long way to go.
◆ When will the normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations materialize?
The biggest discussion gathering interest at this meeting was North Korea’s appeal to hasten normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations and contrary, the U.S. confirming that this depended on the North disabling its nukes.
At the press briefing, Assistant Secretary Hill said that the U.S. also wished for a quick and appropriate resolution. The faster the dismantle of nukes, Assistant Secretary Hill said, the more adamant the normalization of relations, though he did add that no specific date had been scheduled for when North Korea would initiate action.
Further, he said that the model adopting the amity relationship between the U.S. and Chinese should be adopted seeing it was so successful and contact offices established in the major cities of both parties.
Moreover Assistant Secretary Hill said that if no action had been taken within the next 6 months in regards to the agenda for the normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations, then that would act as a signal to show a problem had arose. He said that the implementation of the agreement was to initiate action within a few months, not a few years. He made it clear that this was an issue directly related to the issue of denuclearization and that foreign relations with North Korea could not be restored as North Korea desired until measures of disabling nukes was visible.
However, it seems that the reason North Korea rejected the proposal to establish contact offices in both the U.S. and North Korea, was because it considered that the establishment of a U.S. residence in Pyongyang would spur an end to the internal political market in North Korea.
◆ No longer a nation supporting terrorism – When will the time come to end hostile trade laws?
[imText2]For a while, North Korea has been emphasizing that the U.S. remove the nation from the list of countries supporting terrorism and has been requesting that the U.S. end hostile trade laws. At the recent talks, it seems that the two parties discussed a diverse range of issues from the list of terror supporting nations from a political to legal perspective, and the abductees issue.
Regarding the discussions made on removing North Korea as a country supporting terrorism, Assistant Secretary Hill revealed that North Korea had comprehended that the this issue was critical in developing relations with Japan.
Once the articles set by the U.S. Administration has been legalistically and satisfactorily fulfilled, only then may the two sanctions be lifted. In order to remove North Korea from the list of terror supporting nations, it must first prove that it is by no means connected to any support of terror over a period of 6 months and then make some guarantee that it would not support terror in future.
Following a fire incident at Tripoli International Airport in 1979, Libya was listed as a terror supporting nation. However, in Dec 2003, the country signed a declaration denouncing its nuclear weapons and following the period of 6 months, all foreign relations were successfully restored. Further, in Sept 2004, sanctions which froze the assets in accordance with trade laws against the hostile nation were also removed. Within 2 and a half years, Libya disabled its nukes which led to the country being withdrawn from the list of terror supporting nations, and in May 2006, measures were taken to symbolize the diplomatic friendly relations, such as the establishment of consulates.
◆ North Korea’s initial agenda to resolve the HEU issue
In relation to the HEU issue, the U.S. provided evidence to show that North Korea had purchased centrifuges and aluminum tubes needed to manufacture materials for nuclear weapons, in which North Korea retorted that there was no evidence to prove this.
However, it was North Korea to first reveal its plans for the resolution of the HEU issue. Regarding this, Assistance Secretary Hill said that before North Korea made reports on its state of the art nuclear programs, a mutual standard of satisfaction regarding the resolution needed to be discussed. It is clear that North Korea will not be able to enter formalities on its denuclearization, unless the HEU issue is resolved.
Assistant Secretary Hill also revealed that additional talks would be held with experts from both sides to discuss the HEU issue but did not go into detail regarding when or what framework the talks would be conducted.
For now, as long as North Korea fulfills its preliminary measures (in association to the nukes), continues to report its actions regarding the HEU issue and do this in an orderly and trustworthy manner, then the Feb 13 Agreement will continue to look bright.
