Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, speaking after what he described as “a very useful exchange” with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan in Seoul on Friday, spoke about the possibility of a second North Korean nuclear test, calling it something that the U.S. could do “not much” about, but making it clear that such a move would not pass without consequences.
South Korean chief negotiator Wee Sung Rak, the Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, was much more strident, saying, “North Korea won’t be able to take provocative steps with impunity. It will pay the price.”
However, a high official in the South Korean government admitted anonymously to the press on Sunday, “If North Korea eventually tries to carry out another nuclear test; we do not have any effective way to stop it. It is hard to find a new alternative besides making an effort to urge North Korea to come back to negotiations.”
Considering that the remarks came out after the meeting between Ambassador Bosworth, Yu Myung Hwan, Head of the Foreign Security Committee in the Blue House Kim Sung Hwan and Wee Sung Rak finished, it suggests that no fresh ingenious ideas were arrived at in the discussions between the two parties and that, for the time being at least, there is no realistic way to control North Korea.
Multilateral and bilateral negotiations compatible
Ambassador Bosworth was again keen to dispel the idea that the U.S. would be prepared to conduct bilateral negotiations with North Korea at the expense of the Six-Party Talks process, but that such bilateral contacts within the Six-Party framework would not run counter to its aims.
Bosworth reaffirmed the mutual belief in Washington and Seoul that “the Six-Party process is at the heart of the effort to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue,” however the U.S. might be “prepared to deal with North Korea on a bilateral basis but in a way that reinforces the multilateral process.” State Department spokesman Robert Wood also returned to a similar theme in his Friday press briefing in Washington, pointing out first, “We have held bilateral talks with the North in the context of the Six-Party framework… that’s the way it’s been,” before again stating that “our purpose is to try to get the North back to the Six-Party Talks, and that’s what Ambassador Bosworth is… talking with our allies in the region about; how we can best do that.”
In an interview with South Korean national daily the Joongang Ilbo over the weekend, Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, backed up the views of both Bosworth and the State Department, saying, “I think we should also be willing to meet bilaterally with North Korea, although not to the exclusion of multilateral talks.”
Klingner went on to explain his view that a “two-handed approach” to the current situation has the best chance of success. On the one hand, “we influence their negotiating behavior by enforcing UN resolutions and by starting to resume enforcing international law,” and on the other, “we’re holding open the door for negotiations,” he said.
Ambassador Bosworth also took time over the weekend to visit former President Kim Dae Jung, with whom he is well-acquainted after spending time in Seoul as U.S. Ambassador during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
Ambassador Bosworth and his team travel to Tokyo today, the 11th, before Bosworth heads back to the U.S. on the 12th; leaving Ambassador Sung Kim to lead the group in Moscow, according to the State Department press briefing. The reasons behind Ambassador Bosworth’s failure to take the team all the way to Russia and the completion of their four-nation tour on Thursday have not been made public.
