Asia-Pacific

Nuclear talks await DPRK apology: ROK

By Cheng Guangjin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-21 09:18

Beijing urges regional powers to move beyond sinking incident

BEIJING - Seoul on Friday urged Pyongyang to apologize for the sinking of a warship before it would consider a resumption of the stalled talks on nuclear disarmament of the Korean Peninsula.

The comments followed a top Chinese envoy's visit to Pyongyang earlier this week to discuss the disarmament process, according to Agence France-Presse.

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Pyongyang "should take some sincere measures concerning the Cheonan incident" said Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Shin Maeong-Ho of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) walked away from the Six-Party Talks last year protesting international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch. China has been hosting the talks since 2003, which also involved the United States, Russia, Japan and the ROK.

Prospects for a resumption were cast into doubt after tensions rose when Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing its warship in March, which Pyongyang has denied.

The US said on Thursday that Pyongyang should "demonstrate a seriousness of purpose and to create an environment where future talks could be productive".

Refusing to specify what steps the US would take to restart the talks, the State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters a change in Pyongyang's behavior is required to give an indication that it is serious about moving ahead.

China's top envoy for the talks Wu Dawei visited Pyongyang on Monday through Wednesday and discussed maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and resumption of talks, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.

The two sides had "reached a full consensus of views on all the matters discussed" including the resumption of the talks and the denuclearization of the whole Korean Peninsula, said the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency.

China has urged the regional powers to flip the page of the sinking incident and quickly resume the talks.

But the chances of restarting the talks in the near future are slim, said Chinese scholars.

"The on-going US-ROK joint military drills targeting the DPRK create no favorable atmosphere for restarting the talks in the near future," said Piao Jianyi, chief of the Center of Korean Peninsula Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Plus the US hasn't given a clear hint that it is making efforts to resume the talks," said Piao.

Washington and Seoul have announced their third joint military drills in September, and one in every month till the end of this year aiming to deter Pyongyang.

Zhang Liangui, an expert on Korean affairs at the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, added that Washington and Seoul were reluctant to restart the talks as they worry Pyongyang took advantage of the talks to make time for further nuclear research.

"Pyongyang has been consistently taking a tough stance against Washington and Seoul," said Zhang, "it is unlikely to make concessions for the talks".

Yang Jing contributed to the story.