On July 9, the day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began her East Asia journey with a stop in China, the North Korean Central News Agency announced the country's agreement to return to the six-party talks. 

On the same day, a White House spokesperson said in Washington, DC the US welcomed North Korea's move and hoped for a fruitful round of talks in the last week of July.

North Korea made the announcement after a meeting in Beijing on July 9 with government officials from the US. Both sides agreed to a fourth round of talks scheduled to start on July 26.

The news has once more brought Korean Peninsula nuclear affairs to the public's attention.

Since the end of the third round of negotiations in June last year, horse-trading has been going on only behind the scenes.

There has been a recent flurry of shuttle diplomacy. First Rice visited China, Japan and South Korea; next State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, as President Hu Jintao's special envoy, visited North Korea from July 12-14.

On July 14 there was a discussion among representatives of the US, South Korea and Japan.

These frantic diplomatic goings-on demonstrate the last-minute preparations each side is engaged in as they work to ensure that the fourth round of talks will be productive.

The US and North Korea restarted contact in May through the so-called New York Channel. Then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun went to Washington to meet US President George W. Bush. Shortly afterwards, North and South Korea held their 15th ministerial-level meeting, resulting in a 12-point agreement.

It is noteworthy that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on June 15. This injected fresh hope into the talks, which had been stalled for a year.

Kim said if the US respects North Korea, the nation would not need to have nuclear weapons and it would be willing to return to the talks as early as in July.

Chung made a major proposal, saying if the North gives up nuclear weapons, South Korea would provide a massive program of economic aid. Kim said he would study the proposal.

Later, the US acknowledged North Korea is a sovereign nation and reiterated the US had no intention to invade it. North Korea interpreted this as the US recanting its previous view of the country as an "outpost of tyranny." This has helped create the right conditions for further talks.

North Korea announced in February it had nuclear weapons in its arsenal. This, no doubt, has added another level of complexity to the next round of talks. If a road map for solving the North Korean nuclear impasse emerges from these talks, they will be a success. But to achieve this result, the following efforts must be made.

First, North Korea must give up nuclear weapons and the US must provide security guarantees. In the previous three rounds of talks, the two countries got bogged down in arguing who should take the first step. Giving up nuclear weapons could be a long and complicated process, and it is unthinkable that one should act while the other waits in the wings.

Second, irrelevant topics have no place in negotiations that must be more focused. At the same time, each side should avoid provocative language and contribute to a healthy environment for the talks.

It is positive that the US has called Kim Jong-il "Mr. Kim," and Kim has referred to Bush as "an interesting person."

South Korea has played an important role in launching the coming round of discussions. Since last summer it has maintained contact with the North on many different levels, including high-level communication.

South Korea expressed its willingness to act as a "balancer" in Northeast Asian affairs, and it has demonstrated its intentions through its "major proposal," which has been garnering a lot of attention.

On July 12 South Korea proposed that if the North forfeits nuclear weapons and calls off its currently suspended light-water reactor program, it will provide 2 million kilowatts of electric power. It will also offer half a million tons of rice and link the two countries' railway systems.

This suggestion is a key part of President Roh's efforts to break the deadlock with his country's neighbor.

As the host country, China has maintained dialogue with all of the other parties to determine the schedule and specific topics for discussion.

Since February when North Korea announced its possession of nuclear weapons, China has twice sent envoys. The first was Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on February 19, and the second was Tang Jiaxuan.

China hopes all parties will have "sufficient patience" to solve the nuclear standoff. The Chinese believe, no matter how convoluted discussions would become, each side should have the confidence to resolve the matter peacefully, through dialogue.

China's role has been widely acknowledged. Rice praised the Chinese government for its efforts that led to the resumption of the talks. Kim, too, when meeting Tang, expressed his appreciation of China's efforts.

(China Daily July 21, 2005)