Korean move

North Korea’s announcement Sunday that it will return to six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programme should be greeted by the US as an opportunity to engage in genuine give-and-take negotiations.

China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia will join in the talks, but the focus will be on the US and North Korea. Until they start bargaining on July 25 in Beijing, it will not be clear whether the North is prepared to dismantle its nuclear programme and whether President Bush will make the accommodations needed to strike a deal. But at least the two sides have taken steps to renew the Beijing talks after a hiatus of 13 months.

What made this possible was a US modulation of tone and a North Korean face-saving exercise. After the North’s Kim Jong Il told South Korea’s unification minister that the North was ready to abandon its nuclear weapons and would return to the talks if shown respect by US, Condoleezza Rice and Bush stopped alluding to regime change in Pyongyang and reiterated a pro-forma recognition of North Korea as a state.

Each side will have to explore the trade-offs necessary for a mutually acceptable accord. Bush will have to make a deal for the phased dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear programme, and the price will be acceptance of a regime that he cannot in any case change. — The Boston Globe