The fourth round of six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue has announced a recess on August 7. The talks at present stage have not been able to issue a common document as expected. In the Chairman's Statement released after the meeting, however, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said all the six delegations agreed that the general goal of the six-nation talks is to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and the next phase of the talks would resume in the week that begins on August 29. It indicates that the current phase of the talks has achieved considerable success.

 

Before the fourth-round six-party talks started the concerned parties were still at odds regarding such major issues as whether the six-party talks should continue, whether the talks should still involve six parties as well as the goal and topics of the talks etc. in their respective positions made public. It was against this backdrop that the concerned six parties reaffirmed the great significance and value of the six-party talks, gathered together to have serious talks and established the common goal of achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. This by itself is a great achievement.

 

The first phase of the fourth-round six-party talks also pioneered a new form of meeting. The Chinese side as the host fully utilized the "Chinese wisdom" and created a free-combination form of meeting and a situation of "meetings within meeting" in which six-party talks and bilateral dialogues were held side by side with no fixed form and duration. The way the talks were held successfully satisfied the positions of both sides, dissolved conflicts, settled problems and helped form a positive, pragmatic and flexible meeting style.

 

Another major achievement of this phase of six-party talks is that the concerned sides conducted ample and in-depth exchanges through more than 70 intensive bilateral meetings, enabling more accurate understanding and discernment of the public positions and true intentions of the other sides.

 

Admittedly, the absence of a common document at present stage reflects the profoundness of the difference between the two main parties -- North Korea and the US. However, wisdom always prevails against odds and people will find a way to solve the Korean nuclear issue in a peaceful manner.

 

To ensure the successful holding of the next stage talks and progress, constructing the mechanism of the meeting itself is still an urgent task. First, the specific date of the resumption should be set and efforts should be made to turn the talks into a regular mechanism in order to prevent artificial interferences and delays.

 

Second, in order to increase the sense of urgency and historical responsibility on each side regarding the development of the situation, it is necessary to set a general schedule for following meetings since it is not in anyone's interests to drag on.

 

Third, for each issue disputed at the present stage of the meeting specific solutions should be conceived for choosing by the parties at the next stage. For example, there is a dispute over whether North Korea's nuclear dismantlement should include peaceful use of nuclear energy. It may be made clear in the form of document that North Korea has the right to such use while stipulating that the peaceful use should be under the monitoring and supervision of international organizations and international organizations are responsible for handling the spent fuel rods.

 

Again, it was debated who should be the first to make a move: Should North Korea abandon its nuclear plan first or the US and other countries make compensation first? For this there may be "simultaneous moves." Since "nuclear dismantlement" and "compensation" are not comparable in nature (the former is reversible while the latter is not) the solution may go like this: North Korea's nuclear dismantlement may be launched at the same time as the security, economic and diplomatic "compensation" by the US and other countries. Only these "benefits" are not delivered directly to North Korea, but are instead in the temporary custody of an international organization. Once North Korea's nuclear dismantlement is confirmed the "compensation" is handed over to it thereupon.

 

We truly believe that as long as acting with sincerity people have enough political wisdom to solve the hard nut of the Korean nuclear issue. For this reason we are full of confidence in peaceful solution to the Korean nuclear issue in the near future.

 

(People's Daily August 12, 2005)