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Mark J. Valencia, a Maritime Policy Analyst and a Nautilus Institute Senior Associate, writes, “the littoral states of the Sulu Sea need to gain the “confidence” of the United States that they can – with capacity building and the right equipment – handle the problem themselves. The first steps would be to agree to co-ordinated patrols, ‘hand-off’ hot pursuit, and an ‘eye in the sky’ arrangement.”

Wooksik Cheong, representative of Peace Network Korea, writes, “Eventually, ‘practically complete denuclearization’ requires Bush’s determination as much as Kim Jong-il’s. Particularly, a DPRK-U.S. Summit is essential for a final agreement between the two nations. The most practical and symbolic way to show the end of hostile relations between the U.S. and DPRK is to create a scene of a firm handshake between Bush and Kim.”

Andrei Lankov, an Associate Professor at Kookmin University, Seoul, and Adjunct Research Fellow at the Research School of Pacifica and Asian Studies, Australian National University, writes, “The efforts of the negotiators are not likely to produce the ideal outcome, that is, complete and verifiable destruction of all North Korean nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, it is possible to achieve the compromise, which will make the further increase of the North Korean nuclear arsenal difficult.”