SIX-PARTY TALKS HOPES – DEJA VU, AGAIN

Once again South Korean hopes have been raised that the Six-Party Talks will soon re-start, again. On 17 June, Kim Jong-il told South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young that ““ if the U.S. “recognizes and respects“ North Korea — talks could begin by July.

I am not sure how many times we have been down this path since it is nearly pointless to keep count. The U.S. position has stayed the same: talks should begin immediately, and without pre-conditions. By setting conditions, Kim knows that that his offer is an empty one. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice knows what she is talking about;

“The North Koreans love to make excuses for why they can’t come to the six-party talks… They don’t like facing China and Russia and Japan and South Korea and the United States telling them in a concerted fashion that it’s time to get rid of their weapons, their nuclear weapons.”

Some irony. Chung was in North Korea as a representative of the South to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the June 2000 summit and Joint Declaration between former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. While still celebrated, the entire affair was actually a sham. In 2000, Kim Dae-jung’s administration secretly transferred approximately $500 million to North Korea to make the summit possible, in effect a bribe. The summit was hailed as a huge success in inter-Korea ties, but in reality was a huge success for Kim Jong-il, who has reaped unconditional aid from the South since then. So the North is once again leading the South along with empty promises, while celebrating older empty promises, and the South is once again hopeful, even after being disrespected shortly before the celebration.

Additionally, the summit has turned out to be a watershed event in the turning of South Korean public opinion from unfavorable to favorable concerning North Korea and Kim Jong-il. This has negatively effected the U.S.-ROK alliance, which has come to be viewed as unneeded, since the North is no longer viewed as a threat by the majority of Southerners. Another point for Kim Jong-il and an obvious wedge issue.