Six-party talks

The six-party talks aim to find a peaceful resolution^{[citation needed]} to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. There has been a series of meetings with six participating states: the People's Republic of China; the Republic of Korea (South Korea); the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea); the United States of America; the Russian Federation; and Japan. These talks were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003. Apparent gains following the fourth and fifth rounds were reversed by outside events. Five rounds of talks from 2003 to 2007 produced little net progress^[1] until the third phase of the fifth round of talks, when North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel aid and steps towards the normalization of relations with the United States and Japan.^[2][3]

Content of the six-party talks

The main points of contention are:

• Security guarantee - this issue has been raised by North Korea since the Bush administration (2001 - Present) took office. North Korea labels the Bush Administration as being hostile and accuses it of planning to overthrow the North Korean government by force. This concern was elevated when President George W. Bush named North Korea as part of the axis of evil in his State of the Union Address in 2002.
• The construction of light water reactors - under the 1994 Agreed Framework two light-water reactors would be built in return for the closure of North Korea's graphite-moderated nuclear power plant program at Yongbyon. This agreement broke down after both sides defaulted, especially since 2002.
• 'Peaceful' use of nuclear energy - whilst the NPT allows states the right to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes, this is thought to have been used by North Korea as a cover for their nuclear weapons program.
• Diplomatic relations - North Korea wants normalization of diplomatic relations as part of the bargain for giving up its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. has at times disagreed and at times agreed to this condition, providing North Korea irreversibly and verifiably disarms its nuclear weapons program.
• Financial restrictions / Trade normalization - The U.S. has placed heavy financial sanctions on North Korea for what they see as an uncooperative attitude and unwillingness to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. This was stepped up to include freezing of North Korean assets in foreign bank accounts, such as the US$24 million ^{[4] [5]} in Macau's Banco Delta Asia. With the nuclear test on October 9, 2006, UNSCR 1718 was passed, which included a ban on all luxury goods to North Korea.
• 'Verifiable' and 'Irreversible' disarmament - Members of the six-party talks have disagreed on this. Japan and the U.S. have demanded that North Korea completely dismantle its nuclear program so that it may never be restarted, and that it can be verified by the six members of the talks before aid is given. South Korea, China and Russia have agreed on a milder, step-by-step solution which involves the members of the six-party talks giving a certain reward (e.g. aid) in return for each step of nuclear disarmament. North Korea has wanted the U.S. to concede some of the conditions first before it will take any action in disarming their weapons program, which they see as the only guarantee to prevent a U.S. attack on their soil.

Timeline

1st round (27 Aug—29 Aug 2003)

• Representatives:
• : Lee Soo-hyuk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• : Kim Young-il, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
•  United States: James Kelly, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
•  People's Republic of China: Wang Yi, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
•  Japan: Yabunaka Mitoji, Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
•  Russia: Alexander Losyukov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• A Chairman's Summary agreed upon for a further round of talks.
• No agreement between parties made.

2nd round (25 Feb—28 Feb 2004)

Representatives:
: Lee Soo-hyuk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Gye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: James Kelly, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wang Yi, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Yabunaka Mitoji, Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Losyukov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• A Chairman's Statement announced with seven articles, including:
  • Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
  • Peaceful Coexistence of Participating States, stressing the use of mutually coordinated measures to resolve crises.
• Agreement to hold the third round of talks with full participation during the second quarter of 2004.

3rd round (23 Jun—25 Jun 2004)

Representatives
: Lee Soo-hyuk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Gye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: James Kelly, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wang Yi, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Yabunaka Mitoji, Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Alexeyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• A Chairman's Statement announced with eight articles, including:
  • Reconfirming the commitment to denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, stressing specification of the scope and time, interval (between steps of) and method of verification
• Agreement to hold fourth round of talks in Beijing before September 2005

4th round

1st phase (26 Jul—7 Aug 2005)

Representatives
: Song Min-soon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Gye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Alexeyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• U.S. and North Korea cannot agree on 'peaceful' use of nuclear energy
• Three-week recess of talks due to ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting

2nd phase (13 Sep—19 Sep 2005)

Representatives
: Song Min-soon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Gye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Alexeyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• Agreement on a Joint Declaration of six articles, including:
  • Verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
  • Observe and realize the 1992 Korean Peninsula Denuclearization Declaration
  • North Korea to agree to abandon all nuclear weapons and nuclear programs and return to the NPT as soon as possible
  • However, the states still respect North Korea's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy as stated under the NPT
  • The issue of the light-water reactors will be discussed at a suitable time later
  • U.S. and the South Korea to formally declare that they have no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula
  • U.S. will practice non-aggression towards North Korea
  • U.S. will work to normalize ties with North Korea and by respecting each other's sovereignty, right to co-exist peacefully.
  • Japan will normalize relations with North Korea through the Pyongyang Statement by settling historical disputes.
  • Promising North Korea it will receive economic cooperation and aid with energy through strengthening bilateral/multilateral economic cooperation in energy, trade and investment. The five other members will serve as guarantors to this condition
  • South Korea will channel two million kiloWatts of power to North Korea.
  • The Korean Peninsula peace treaty to be negotiated separately.
  • 'Words for words'; 'actions for actions' principle to be observed, stressing 'mutually coordinated measures'.
• Agreement to hold fifth round of talks in early November, 2005.

5th round

1st phase (9 Nov—11 Nov 2005)

Representatives
: Song Min-soon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Gye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Alexeyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• Joint Statement issued with six points. This is essentially the same as the previous round's statements, except for:
  • Modifying the 'words for words' and 'actions for actions' principle to 'commitment for commitment, action for action' principle.
• No agreement on when the next talks will be held, though March 2006 looked likely at the time.

Events between phases 1 and 2

• In April 2006, North Korea offered to resume talks if the U.S. releases recently frozen North Korean financial assets held in a bank in Macau. [1]
  • The U.S. treats the nuclear and financial issues as separate; North Korea does not.
• North Korea then announced on October 3, 2006, that it was going to test its first nuclear weapon regardless of the world situation, blaming 'hostile U.S. policy' as the reason for the need for such a deterrent. However, it pledged a no-first-strike policy and to nuclear disarmament only when there is worldwide elimination of such nuclear weapons [2]. For North Korea's full text, read this.
• On October 9 2006, North Korea announced a successful nuclear test, verified by the U.S. on October 11.
• In response, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1718 unanimously condemning North Korea, as well as passing Chapter VII, Article 41. Sanctions ranged from the economic to the trade of military units, WMD-related parts and technology transfer, and a ban on certain luxury goods. Both the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation were quick to stress that these were not military-enforceable sanctions. The Resolution also gave the right to other nations to inspect any North Korean vessel's cargo, although the People's Republic of China has held reservations about this move, saying it wanted to avoid any military confrontation with North Korea's navy.
• On 31 October 2006, the Chinese government announced that six-party talks would resume. U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill later stated that the resumption could happen in the next month and that North Korea had not set preconditions for the talks. The deadlock was broken by what BBC News called "frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations" by Beijing. However, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso stated that his country was not willing to return to the six-party talks until North Korea had renounced nuclear weapons. ^[6]
• On 5 December 2006, the Russian envoy and former chief Russian negotiator for the six-party talks Alexander Alexeyev said that the talks were unlikely to resume before 2007 owing to the slow progress towards the talks and the fact that Christmas was coming up soon. ^[7]
• On 10 December, it became apparent that talks would resume on 18 December 2006.^[8]

2nd phase (18 Dec—22 Dec 2006)

Representatives
: Chun Yung-woo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade ^[9][10]
: Kim Kye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs ^{[11] [12]}
 United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs ^[13]
 People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs ^[14]
 Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau ^[15]
 Russia: Sergei Razov, Russian Ambassador to China ^[16]

Objectives achieved

• Chairman's Statement issued
  • All six parties reaffirm their commitment to the Joint Statement made on 19 September 2005 in an 'action for action' manner.
  • All six parties reaffirmed their positions, some of whose positions have differed greatly since the last time the parties met.
• Numerous bilateral talks were held, especially the Sunday before the talks (Dec 17, 2006) and on the third and fourth days of negotiations.
• Separate bilateral talks were made concerning the freezing of overseas North Korean financial assets between the U.S. delegation led by the U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Daniel Glaser, and the North Korean delegation led by the President of the DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank, O Kwang Chol. These talks ended without consensus on a stance, but both delegations agreed to meet again in New York in January 2007. ^[17]
• The 5th round only went into "recess" on Dec 22, 2006, indicating that the round was not over yet. China's chief six-party talks negotiator Wu Dawei stated on January 8, 2007 that working talks concerning the financial sanctions were likely to resume on January 21-22, 2007 in New York, with the main six-party talks likely to resume soon after in Beijing. ^[18]

Events between phases 2 and 3

• Russia's ex-chief negotiator for the six-party talks Alexander Losyukov has taken over from Sergei Razov as the new chief negotiator. ^[19] Losyukov was previously the Russian ambassador to Tokyo, appointed immediately after the second round of the six-party talks in March 2004. ^[20]
• On 26 January 2007, Russian chief negotiator Alexander Losyukov told reporters that the third phase was most likely to resume sometime in late January or early February 2007, most likely 5 February - 8 February 2007. ^[21] Apparently the North Korean delegation wants to resume these talks on 8 February 2007. ^[22] The dates were chosen to take place before the Lunar New Year, which commences in mid-February in 2007. This has been supported by the PRC and ROK delegations. ^[23]
• Both Kim Kye-gwan for North Korea and Christopher Hill for the U.S. made positive remarks about the progress of in-between-rounds one-to-one talks held from Tuesday 16 January 2007 to Thursday 18 January 2007 in Berlin, Germany, pointing to "certain agreements" being reached. They met for six hours on Tuesday and one and a half hours on Wednesday. ^[24] North Korea has viewed these talks as the "bilateral negotiations" it has wanted with the U.S. for a long time, whereas the U.S. refers to it as talks in "preparation for the six-party talks". ^[25]
• U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser is due to hold talks with his North Korean counterpart, O Kwang Chol, in Beijing, China, on Tuesday 30 January, 2007 regarding partial lifting of financial sanctions, thought to be around US$13 million of the US$24 million frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia. ^[26]
• China has confirmed on Tuesday 30 January, 2007 that the third phase of talks will commence on 8 February, 2007. ^[27]
• North Korea was reported to agree to freeze their nuclear program in exchange for 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year, similar to the 1994 Agreed Framework just before the third phase of talks started after a pre-talk one-on-one meeting between Kim and Hill^[28]. There were rumors that a U.S.-North Korean memorandum of understanding had been signed before this phase, although this was denied by U.S. Chief Representative Christopher Hill. ^[29]

3rd phase (8 Feb 2007 - 13 Feb 2007)

Representatives
: Chun Yung-woo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
: Kim Kye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
 Russia: Alexander Losyukov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• Joint Statement issued on Tuesday 13 February, 2007, 3pm
  • North Korea will shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and invite back IAEA personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and verifications
  • In return, the other five parties in the six-party talks will provide emergency energy assistance to North Korea in the initial phase of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, to commence within 60 days.
  • All six parties agree to take positive steps to increase mutual trust, and make joint efforts for lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia. Directly related parties will negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate forum.
  • All six parties agree on establishing five working groups - on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, normalization of North Korea-U.S. relations, normalization of North Korea-Japan relations, economy and energy cooperation, as well as a joint Northeast Asia peace and security mechanism.
  • The working groups will form specific plans for implementing the September 19 statement in their respective areas.
  • All parties agree that all working groups will meet within the next 30 days
• Details of assistance will be determined through consultations and appropriate assessments in the working group on economic and energy cooperation.
• Once the initial actions are implemented, the six parties will promptly hold a ministerial meeting to confirm implementation of the joint document and explore ways and means for promoting security cooperation in Northeast Asia.
  • The sixth round of six-party talks will take place on March 19, 2007. This will be to hear reports of the working groups and discuss actions for the next phase. ^[30]

Events during the 5th round, 3rd phase of talks

• China drew up a plan that was presented on Friday, 9 February, 2007, building on the September 2005 agreement. It proposes that the Yongbyon 5MW(e) nuclear reactor be "suspended, shut down and sealed" within two months in exchange for energy supplies and economic aid by the other five countries to North Korea. It also proposed to establish "four to six" working groups on each of the outstanding issues not agreed on. Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso was reported to applaud the draft, hailing it as a breakthrough. However, Japanese chief representative Sasae Kenichiro and U.S. chief representative Christopher Hill were much more cautious, saying it was just a first step in a long process, but at least there was agreement by all parties on the fundamental points. North Korean chief representative Kim Kye-gwan said North Korea was "prepared to discuss initial denuclearization steps" but was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic because there are still a lot of problems to be resolved"^{[31][32][33][34]}
• China held one-on-one talks with each of the other five countries on Sunday 11 February, 2007. The six countries' chief negotiators then had an hour-long meeting together in the afternoon. They did not announce any end date for this phase of talks after the meeting. ^[35]
• China's plan has run into some difficulties regarding the steps North Korea will take to denuclearize in exchange for aid. The Japanese chief representative claimed North Korea was demanding too much compensation in return for denuclearization. South Korea's chief representative Chun Yung-woo said it was "unreasonable" to expect a breakthrough on Sunday 11 February, 2007. Russia's chief representative Losyukov said that the chances of reaching a two-page joint statement are slim, and if this does not work out, a Chairman's Statement will be issued. ^[36]
• On February 13, 2007, Christopher Hill announced that a tentative deal had been reached between the negotiators, and a "final text" was being circulated to the governments of the six parties for approval. Even before the deal had been approved, it was criticized by John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who said that it sent "exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world".^[37]
• The Chairman's Statement adopted on February 13, 2007 was the result of 16 hours of grueling negotiations, finalized only at 2 a.m. on February 13, 2007. This was circulated to all six parties, and agreed on at around 3 p.m. that same day. ^[38]

See also

• U.S.-North Korea relations
• U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework
• Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
• List of Korea-related topics
• 2006 North Korean nuclear test

Notes and references

External links

• Initial Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement (Full text of Chairman's Statement), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China, 13 February 2007
• The Best U.S. Response to North Korea's Failed Missile Test NOW on PBS, July 7 2006
• North Korean Denuclearisation: A Chinese View of the Way Forward, Acronym Institute, Disarmament Diplomacy, Spring 2006
• Inside Multilateralism: The Six-Party Talks, John S. Park, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 4, Autumn 2005
• North Korea Says It Will Abandon Nuclear Efforts, New York Times, September 19, 2005
• U.S.-Korean Deal on Arms Leaves Key Points Open, New York Times, September 20, 2005
• Nuke talks reach agreements, Korea.Net, September 19, 2005
• Full Text of Six-nation Statement on North Korea, Nautilus Institute, September 20, 2005
• Light Water Reactors at the Six Party Talks: The Barrier that Makes the Water Flow, Nautilus Institute, September 21, 2005
• Full text of Chairman's Statement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China, 11 November 2005
• North Korea Unveils 5-Step Roadmap for Scrapping Nukes, Korea Times, 14 November 2005
• North Korea and the “six-party talks”: a road to nowhere, David Wall, openDemocracy, 12 April 2006
• Whither the Six-Party Talks? U.S. Institute of Peace Briefing, May 2006
• Six-party talks in the media
• A Denuclearization Deal in Beijing, Gavan McCormack, 2007-02-15 - step-by-step review of Bush policies towards the negotiations