Diplomacy gets under way on Korean front

Compared with an imminent US military strike against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons, diplomatic efforts, both official and unofficial, are gathering steam on the Korean Peninsula front.

On Monday, US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies said he needs to get to Beijing to talk to Chinese authorities before deciding if he is going to attend an informal meeting proposed by China.

Last month China proposed an informal meeting on Sept 18 with senior officials from countries involved in the Six-Party Talks for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The six countries are the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia.

The proposal for informal talks is being interpreted as part of China’s intensified efforts to re-start the Six-Party Talks, which have been suspended since 2008. Chinese special envoy for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei travelled to the DPRK on Aug 26-30 to talk with his counterpart Kim Kyegwan. And it was reported that the DPRK agreed to send its nuclear envoy Ri Yong-ho to the proposed gathering.

Organized by the China Institute of International Studies, the so-called Track 1.5 meeting in Beijing is to “review the past course of the Six-Party Talks”, to use the words of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

The US, the ROK and Japan have not indicated whether or not they will send their chief nuclear negotiators to the informal talks.

However, the ROK and the US recently mapped out a joint operation plan to deter and respond to the DPRK’s nuclear program. The plan encompasses political, diplomatic and military measures Washington will use to provide a nuclear umbrella for the ROK in the case of a DPRK nuclear provocation.

While the plan is expected to be signed by the US and the ROK in early October, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong on Monday called for all parties to keep the big picture in mind, do more to ease tensions, make joint efforts to create enabling conditions for the resumption of the talks and stay committed to solving relevant issues under the framework of the Six-Party Talks.

“China has always strived for denuclearization, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Hong said. “We maintain that relevant issues should be solved through dialogue and consultations.”

The DPRK indicated that it is willing to resume the Six-Party Talks, but said that no pre-conditions should be set by the US, which has said that the DPRK’s abandonment of their nuclear program was a prerequisite.

“Our view is that, of course, we can’t get back to the SixParty Talks until we see a much greater degree of willingness on the part of North Korea to take the steps that it has already promised to take,” Davies, the US envoy, told reporters on Monday, after arriving at the ROK’s Incheon Airport.

“So, our concern now is with North Korean attitudes towards denuclearization,” he said. “They’ve gone in the opposite direction from the commitments that they’ve made before.”

Davies will be in Beijing on Sept 11 for meetings with senior Chinese government officials, including Wu Dawei, according to the US State Department.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel made a similar comment on Sunday in the ROK, where he was as part of his first East Asia tour in his new capacity.

“It’s understandable after so many cycles of broken promises by North Korea that the international community would have high standards of evidence with a call on North Korea to make convincing indications of its seriousness and purpose,” said Russel, who will also visit Beijing and Tokyo later this week.

The US State Department said Russel will arrive in Beijing on Sept 13 to meet with senior Chinese officials to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern.

While senior US officials are travelling to East Asia, former NBA star Dennis Rodman said on Monday that he has been invited to bring a team of 12 former NBA players for a basketball tournament in the DPRK in January of next year.

Rodman, who just returned from his second trip to the DPRK, meeting again with leader Kim Jong-un, said his team will include former stars such as Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen.

The Hall of Fame player was criticized in the US for his first visit to the DPRK in February, when a picture showed him laughing and eating with Kim.

Rodman is not shy about his closeness with Kim. “I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms Ri (Sol-ju, Kim’s wife) as well. He is a good dad and has a beautiful family,” Rodman told the Guardian on Sunday.