North Korea open to talks with US

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/27/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-talks


Jeez they are worse than a 2 year old. In any case this is good news. Hopefully the fist shaking is over and we can engage them in meaningful discussions.



"North Korea said today it was open to talks about the rising tension over its nuclear weapons programme, a marked shift in tactics after months of ratcheting up foreign anxieties with nuclear test and missile launches.

The statement appeared to be a call for direct talks with the United States, a longstanding goal of the regime. It comes days after the North Korean leadership traded jibes with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, at a regional summit in Thailand. It said she was "by no means intelligent" and looked like a schoolgirl or a pensioner going shopping, after she compared it to a group of "small children".

In today's announcement the foreign ministry in Pyongyang made clear its continued opposition to the six-party nuclear talks, which it said sought only to "disarm and incapacitate" the nation."

Even if the US was to talk one to one with NK how long before they raise tensions again and ruin negotiations just to restart the process?


Diplomacy is one thing and a good thing, but rewarding NK's bad behavior will just lead to more of the same.

Obviously, we need to avoid any concessions without demonstrable and continuing improvements on there part.

In addition, the op article ignores that the NK HRC insults, which are inexcusable, followed HRC comments that arrogantly compared the NK to teens or kids wanting attention. They were clearly reacting to what they took as a fairly demeaning insult. Neither should have made the comments they did.

and then started diplomacy. Those four years were wasted and it's pretty obvious North Korea took advantage of that time to build up their weapons program. Yes, they act like a child, but they have to be dealt with for the safety of the region.

The US must still use diplomacy as a means to an end, but NK wants everybody to think that they're one of the big boys and that they should have a one on one with the US alone. There are 4 other regional/national interests at stake and those nations should be involved and heard.

I'm not advocating using the stick against NK, but I am also not advocating that the USA bows to their rhetoric, grandstanding or temper tantrums. If the US were to do that it would just open up the door for more of the same; without any measurable improvement.

The US needs to remain firm and steer the talks in a positive direction, and I agree that HRC should not antagonize an already fragiler situation.