Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. Statement from Multilateral Talks

Korea Times (“SIX NATIONS CONFIRMS CONSENSUS FOR NUCLEAR-FREE KOREA IN BEIJING TALKS “, 2004-06-27) printed this statement from the Multilateral Talks: 1. The third round of the six-party talks was held in Beijing among the People’s Republic of China (PRC); the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK); Japan; the Republic of Korea (ROK); the Russian Federation (Russia) and the United States of America (USA) from June 23-26, 2004. 2. The heads of delegations were Wang Yi, vice foreign minister of China; Kim Gye-gwan, vice foreign minister of the DPRK; Ambassador Mitoji Yabunaka, director general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs of the ministry of foreign affairs of Japan; Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuk, deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade of ROK; Ambassador Alexander Alkseyed, special envoy of the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia; James A. Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, US Department of State. 3. In preparation for the third round of the six-party talks two sessions of the working group were held in Beijing from May 12-15 and from June 21-22, 2004. The parties approved the concept paper of the working groups in the plenaries. 4. During the third round of the talks, the parties had constructive, pragmatic and substantive discussions. Based on the consensus reached at the second round of the talks, as reflected in the chairman’s statement, they reaffirmed their commitment to the goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and stressed the need to take first steps toward that goal as soon as possible. 5. The parties stressed the need for a step-by-step process of ‘words for words’ and ‘action for action’ in search for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue. 6. In this context, proposals, suggestions, and recommendations were put forward by all parties. The parties welcome the submission of these proposals, suggestions and recommendations and noted some common elements that would provide a useful basis for future work, while differences among the parties remained. The parties believed that further discussions were needed to expand their common ground and reduce existing differences. 7. The parties agreed in principle to hold the fourth round of the six-party talks in Beijing by the end of September 2004, at a date to be decided through diplomatic channels with due consideration to the proceedings of the working group. The parties authorized the working group to convene at the earliest possible date to define the scope, duration and verification as well as corresponding measures for first steps for denuclearization, and as appropriate, make recommendations for the fourth round of the talks. 8. The delegations from the DPRK, Japan, the ROK, Russia and the USA expressed their appreciation to the Chinese side for its efforts toward making the third round of the six-party talks successful.

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2. Multilateral Talks

Korea Times (“SIX NATIONS TO RESUME NUKE TALKS IN SEPTEMBER “, 2004-06-28) reported that negotiators in the six-party nuclear talks agreed in principle the first step toward de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should be taken as soon as possible, PRC Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement. The third round of multilateral talks ended inconclusively here on Saturday, but with an agreement to resume discussions by the end of September in Beijing, according to the eight-point Chairman’s Statement.

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3. DPRK Role at Multilateral Talks

The Associated Press (“STATE DEPT CREDITS NORTH KOREA WITH CONSTRUCTIVE NEGOTIATIONS “, 2004-06-28) reported that the Bush administration is giving the DPRK at least a passing grade in negotiations to stop its nuclear weapons program and suggesting the slow-moving talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula may be making headway. The PRC’s Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters Saturday that progress was being made at the talks but a “serious lack of mutual trust” still exists among participants.

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4. US on DPRK Nuclear Crisis

Kyodo News (“U.S. TO CLOSELY EXAMINE N. KOREA’S NUKE OFFERS: KELLY”, 2004-06-28) reported that US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly told a top Japanese defense official on Monday that the US intends to closely examine the DPRK’s offers put forward at the third round of six-nation nuclear talks last week, Japanese officials said. In a meeting in Tokyo with Defense Agency’s Vice Minister Takemasa Moriya, Kelly was quoted as saying there was a concrete exchange of views with the DPRK compared with the previous two rounds of discussions. Kelly, who headed the U.S. delegation to the six-nation talks, also said the DPRK’s offers are complex and contain various elements, the officials said. Kelly was also quoted as telling Moriya that coordination between Japan, the ROK and the US worked well at the talks, the officials said. Kelly noted that cooperation between Japan and the US was excellent, and the ROK took a good position, the officials said.

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5. DPRK – US Relations

The Associated Press (“N KOREAN FOREIGN MIN SAYS HE IS WILLING TO MEET POWELL”, ) reported that the DPRK’s foreign minister said he was willing to meet U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of a regional forum. “We have no plan to meet. But if they ask us to meet, we will meet,” Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said after arriving in Jakarta ahead of a meeting of the 23-member ASEAN Regional Forum. Paek didn’t comment on what he might discuss with Powell, who is expected to attend the forum Friday. Powell met Paek on the sidelines of the forum two years ago.

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6. DPRK on Nuclear Crisis

Washington Post Foreign Service (“N. KOREA SAYS IT CAN ‘SHOW FLEXIBILITY'”, 2004-06-26) reported that the DPRK government on Friday expressed willingness to compromise with the US about ending its nuclear weapons programs, saying it would “show flexibility” if U.S. officials improved their offer of energy aid from South Korea and agreed to provide some assistance itself. In an unusually mild statement read by a North Korean official as six-nation talks in Beijing neared a close, the DPRK emphasized it might be willing not only to freeze “all facilities related to nuclear weapons” but also to dismantle them. The DPRK government also refrained from publicly berating the US as it had during the past two rounds of the talks. But U.S. officials here said North Korean negotiators continued to deny the existence of a secret uranium enrichment program that the Bush administration and its allies insist must be disclosed and dismantled as part of any deal. One senior U.S. official described the two sides as “far from agreement.” “There’s some good, some bad, some a little ugly, but not as much as has been the case in the past. The results would have to be described as mixed so far,” said the U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. “There are no breakthroughs.”

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7. US on DPRK Nuclear Test

The Associated Press (“U.S. DOWNPLAYS N. KOREA NUKE COMMENTS “, 2004-06-25) reported that US officials on Friday played down comments by the DPRK that it might test an atomic bomb, saying six-nation talks on the DPRK’s nuclear program were “moving along” even though the latest round produced no breakthroughs. DPRK envoys affirmed that Pyongyang regards its offer this week to freeze its nuclear program as a step toward dismantling it, which is the outcome demanded by the US, a senior official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a DPRK envoy mentioned Thursday that some in the DPRK wanted to test a bomb. “But it was not phrased as a threat,” the official told reporters.

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8. UN on DPRK Nuclear Crisis

Reuters (“ANNAN URGES CHINA TO SWAY N. KOREA ON TEST THREAT”, 2004-06-25) reported that the PRC should use its influence to discourage the DPRK from going ahead with any plans to test a nuclear weapon, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday. Annan said he could not comment on whether the DPRK was bluffing or not in referring to a possible nuclear test during talks on Pyongyang’s suspected nuclear program in Beijing. But “the Chinese are playing a very important role here, and I hope they will be able to dissuade the North Koreans, if they are not bluffing, not to go in that direction,” he told a news conference.

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9. Inter-Korean Relations

New York Times (“KOREAS SIDESTEP U.S. TO FORGE POLITICAL AND PRAGMATIC LINKS “, 2004-06-26) reported that after half a century of cross-border propaganda, all is now quiet on the ROK’s northern front. By Aug. 15, the hundreds of propaganda signs and loudspeakers are to be entirely removed from both sides of the inter-Korean border. The Koreas are entering more than a summer of d?ente. Quietly ignoring Bush administration efforts to isolate the DPRK, the ROK has become the DPRK’s largest source of aid, trade and tourism. It is also the DPRK’s most consistent diplomatic advocate. While older people and conservative politicians get nervous each time the United States announces a troop withdrawal, as it did earlier this month, younger ROKJ citizens typically cheer. To them, and increasingly to the more liberal members of the ROK government, the DPRK is no longer seen as a military threat. “You could call it engagement, you could call it neutrality,” said Victor D. Cha, a Washington-based Korea specialist visiting Seoul this week. “We don’t know what South Korea’s grand design is.”

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10. ROK – DPRK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

Korea Times (“S-N FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING DUE ON JULY 1”, 2004-06-28) reported that the ROK’s Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon will have a one-on-one meeting with his DPRK counterpart Paek Nam-sun in Jakarta on Thursday. Ban, who is facing pressure to resign over the murder of a Korean citizen in Iraq, will leave for the meeting on Tuesday. The inter-Korean foreign ministers’ talks will happen on the sidelines of an annual security meeting of Asia-Pacific nations, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to be held in the Indonesian capital. The two top diplomats’ face-to-face meeting draws special attention as it comes just days after the third round of six-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programs ended in Beijing last week with some substantial progress. “Several usual issues such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the North Korean nuclear issue are expected to be discussed in the private talks,” said Lee Sun-jin, deputy foreign minister for policy planning, at a news briefing.

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11. ROK – DPRK Military Talks

Yonhap News (“TWO KOREAS TO HOLD WORKING-LEVEL MILITARY TALKS “, 2004-06-28) reported that the ROK and DPRK will hold working-level military talks Tuesday to follow up on previous bilateral agreements to ease tensions on their sea and land borders, the Ministry of National Defense said. Colonel-grade officers from the two sides are to meet in the ROK border city of Paju, Kyonggi Province, about 40 kilometers north of Seoul, at 10 a.m. for follow-up discussions on eliminating propaganda facilities in military demarcation line (MDL) areas and preventing accidental armed clashes at their disputed western sea border, the ministry said. “At Tuesday’s talks, both parties will discuss results of the elimination of MDL propaganda broadcast facilities and signboards, launched on 16 June. Then they will discuss the next tension-easing measures in the MDL areas,” a ministry spokesman said. The working-level officers will also discuss continued implementations of inter-Korean agreements on avoiding armed clashes in the West Sea border, including inter-Korean radio communications, he said. Such agreements were reached during a meeting of general-grade officers in early June.

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12. UN on DPRK Market Economy

The Associated Press (“TOP U.N. ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA SEES SIGNS THAT PYONGYANG FITFULLY MOVING TOWARD MARKET ECONOMY”, 2004-06-26) reported that the U.N. point man for the DPRK said he saw many signs the reclusive DPRK is making small but important steps toward a market economy. “I was impressed that people were buying,” said Maurice Strong, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special adviser on the DPRK. “It is quite a significant sign that some of the reforms that they’ve enacted are becoming visible at the level of people, at the level of consumers,” he said Friday. Strong, who toured the DPRK ahead of the six-nation conference on the DPRK’s nuclear program that just ended in Beijing, stressed that the country is only just beginning to open up. But he said changes he witnessed which were backed up by accounts from U.N. workers who have been living and traveling in the DPRK have persuaded him that the regime is making serious efforts to dismantle economic constraints. One of the most dramatic areas was in the field of agriculture a vital area of reform if the DPRK is to recover from years of famine. He said U.N. workers are reporting that the government has recently allowed farmers to have larger private plots and implemented basic gravity-fed irrigation systems. “This has resulted in a very significant increase in the produce,” said Strong. “It’s good for the income of the farmers but it also adds significantly to the amount of produce available.” Strong says that beyond the brinksmanship, the DPRK is desperate to normalize relations with the outside world. “(North Korea) wants to move out into the larger world,” he said.

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13. Russian on DPRK Famine

Agence France-Presse (“RUSSIA TO SEND FOOD AID TO FAMINE-HIT NORTH KOREA: OFFICIAL”, 2004-06-27) reported that a Russian freight ship carrying 35 tons of food aid is to sail Monday to famine-hit DPRK, a top Russian foreign ministry official told the ITAR-TASS news agency. “Fairly substantial aid will be sent to North Korea — almost 35 tons of wheat,” Russian deputy foreign minister Yury Fedotov said late Saturday. “This should ease the tension linked to the difficult food situation in the country,” he added.

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14. Russian – Korean Relations

Tass (“LAVROV TO DISCUSS N KOREA NUKE PROGRAM IN SEOUL, PYONGYANG “, 2004-06-26) reported that the results of the third round of the six-sided talks on the DPRK’s nuclear program will be in the focus of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s meetings in Seoul and Pyongyang, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on Saturday. Lavrov will visit the ROK on July 3-4 and the DPRK on July 4-5 to discuss the nuclear-free status of the Korean Peninsula, the Russian diplomat said. “The main thing is to make the negotiating process interrupted in order to reach a compromise. The DPRK’s offer to de-freeze its nuclear program may become the first step towards settlement.” Russia recognizes that it is the DPRK’s right to develop nuclear technologies. According to Russian ambassador at large Alexander Alexeyev, who led Russia’s delegation at the Beijing talks, it is necessary to differ between “de-freezing” and “full dismantling”. He did not rule out that the DPRK could include dual-purpose facilities in the “de-freezing” list. “This is a problem for specialists who can differ one from other,” the ambassador said. Alexeyev believes that it is wrong to curb the DPRK’s nuclear program. “We cannot deny the right of any state to develop nuclear programs for peaceful purposes. Such programs should be monitored,” he said.

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15. IAEA on DPRK Nuclear Crisis

Reuters (“ELBARADEI READY TO VISIT N.KOREA FOR NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2004-06-28) reported that the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Monday he was ready to go to the DPRK immediately to discuss the return of U.N. inspectors expelled from the communist state a year and half ago. Speaking to reporters after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mohamed ElBaradei said he had asked Lavrov to convey this message to the DPRK. “He (Lavrov) is going to North Korea this week,” ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said. “I told him he can tell them that I’m ready to come any time and discuss future cooperation.” While the return of IAEA inspectors is widely taken as a necessary condition of any deal reached with North Korea, ElBaradei said he was willing to meet the North Koreans directly before any agreement was finalized. “I am ready to go anytime to North Korea … even before any agreement (is reached), on how we can work with them in the future,” he said.

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16. ASEAN on DPRK Nuclear Crisis

The Associated Press (“ASIAN NATIONS TO CALL FOR END TO KOREA NUCLEAR ROW”, 2004-06-28) reported that Asia-Pacific nations are calling for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the DPRK’s nuclear development, and praising the PRC for its role as host of six-nation talks on the standoff, according to a draft statement obtained Monday. “Participants called for a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula and the efforts to address all the concerns of the parties,” said the statement that was obtained by the Associated Press. Foreign ministers at the 23-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum planned to release a statement after a meeting on Friday. It was unclear whether the wording of the statement would be changed by the time it is released. “They agreed that the nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue,” the statement said. “Participants commended the PRC government for its efforts in this direction. Participants welcomed the efforts to continue inter-Korean dialogue.”

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17. DPRK Missile Test

Asia Pulse (“N. KOREA BELIEVED TO HAVE TEST LAUNCHED MISSILE: REPORTS “, 2004-06-28) reported that the DPRK may have test-fired a short-range missile into the East Sea when the third round of six-way talks opened in Beijing to resolve the standoff over its nuclear weapons program, Japan’s media reported Saturday. Citing military sources, the Sankei Shimbun said the missile was launched Wednesday from the region of Dancheon in the DPRK’s South Hamgyeong Province. Another Japanese daily Tokyo Shimbun also reported that the US has confirmed the firing of a missile through its military satellites, but the Japanese government refused to confirm. The newspaper said the missile had a range of 100 to 200 kilometers and was fired from a mobile launcher. The Japanese news outlets said the DPRK may have been trying to take the upper hand position in the six-party talks over its nuclear standoff as the firing came on the first day of the talks.

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18. DPRK – US Relations

Yonhap News (“ANTI-U.S. RALLY OF ONE MILLION PYONGYANG CITIZENS HELD”, 2004-06-26) reported that about 1 million DPRK citizens took part in anti-U.S. rallies in their capital, Pyongyang, and other parts of the country to mark the anniversary of the Korean War, the DPRK’s media said Saturday. Friday was the 54th anniversary of outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. the DPRK usually marks the day with special programs to arouse anti-U.S. sentiment among its 22 million people.

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19. Japanese -DPRK Relations

Asahi Shimbun (“ABDUCTION ISSUE TO BE DEALT WITH SEPARATELY”, 2004-06-28) reported that by agreeing to provide energy assistance to the DPRK in return for a freeze of its nuclear programs, Tokyo made clear it is ready to deal separately with the vexing abduction issue. The government now plans to keep the abduction issue alive at the bilateral level and continue to press for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at future rounds of six-way talks also involving the US, ROK, PRC and Russia. Tokyo dropped its stance of linking the abduction and nuclear issues because officials were encouraged by the May 22 summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, sources said. Koizumi returned home with five children of two repatriated abductee couples. However, the American husband of returned abductee Hitomi Soga and their two daughters decided to stay in the DPRK. A Japanese delegation source added, “By the time we have concrete plans for energy aid, progress is expected on the abduction issue.”

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20. ROK – Japanese Relations

Yonhap (“ROH ATTRIBUTES MEANINGFUL PROGRESS IN NUKE TALKS TO KOIZUMI”, 2004-06-28) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s trip to the DPRK in May greatly helped the just-concluded six-party nuclear talks make “meaningful progress”, President Roh Moo-hyun said Monday. “I think the improvement in the relations between Japan and North Korea, including the visit to North Korea by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, contributed greatly to the progress in the six-party talks,” Roh said while having a luncheon meeting with a group of Japanese politicians.

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21. PRC Investment

The Associated Press (“CHINA OVERTAKES U.S. AS INVESTMENT TARGET”, 2004-06-28) reported that the PRC overtook the US as a recipient of foreign direct investment in 2003 as companies broadened their strategies in emerging markets, according to a report published Monday. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the US was the worst hit by falling inflows of foreign direct investment to its 30 industrialized member countries. Investment into the United States declined to $40 billion last year from $72 billion in 2002 and $167 billion in 2001, while foreign direct investment in the PRC dipped only slightly to $53 billion from $55 billion – leaving China as the world’s biggest recipient of investment, excluding tax haven Luxembourg. The Paris-based organization said the sharply increased flows reflected a broadening of companies’ investment goals in emerging markets, beyond simply gaining access to cheaper labor and raw materials. “There has been an increasing tendency for companies to invest in especially the largest developing countries as part of strategies to service local clients or to acquire a strategic position in markets that could become prosperous in the future,” the OECD said.

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22. PRC Market Economy

The Associated Press (“EU REFUSES TO GRANT CHINA MARKET ECONOMY”, 2004-06-28) reported that the European Union has denied the PRC’s request to be officially recognized as a market economy, saying Monday that an assessment of the PRC economy showed too much state interference and poor corporate governance. The EU’s head office said the PRC needed to make progress in four key areas before winning the coveted Market Economy Status, said Arancha Gonzalez, spokeswoman for trade issues. “We believe there is work to be done from the Chinese in the financial sector, in corporate and banking law, in state interference and in property law,” Gonzalez said. The decision dealt a blow to Beijing, which has lobbied hard for countries around the world to recognize the PRC as a market economy. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the request the centerpiece of his visit to Brussels last month. The PRC is seeking to secure the status, which would make it more difficult for its trading partners to impose penalties on the dumping – or selling below fair market prices – of Chinese exports. “We understand that China wants to get this status and to be reclassified in terms of antidumping and duties,” Gonzalez said. “To arrive at that position we need to establish there’s no state interference.” She said the EU demands offered Beijing a clear set of problems to resolve. She said the plan was “good news for China, in that there is a clear roadmap they can follow to obtain market economy status.”

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23. Mongolian Elections

Reuters (“MONGOLIA OPPOSITION CLAIMS WIN; PM SAYS VOTE RIGGED”, 2004-06-28) reported that Mongolia’s opposition democrats claimed what would be a stunning victory Monday in parliamentary elections disputed by Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar who accused his rivals of widespread vote rigging. Enkhbayar’s Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the opposition Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC) each won 36 seats in the Great Hural, or parliament, election committee officials said citing the first official preliminary result. If officially confirmed by the election committee, the result would be a dramatic reversal for the MPRP, which had 72 seats in the 76-seat parliament before Sunday’s polls and had been confident of an overwhelming victory. The democratic coalition claimed victory by including three seats among their independent allies, which would mark a comeback for the democrats who were swept from power by the MPRP four years ago. “The preliminary result is that the MPRP has 36 seats, the MDC has 36 seats, independents have three seats and the Mongolian Republican Party has one seat,” said committee chairman Yadamsuren. He said an official announcement was likely Tuesday after the commission verified results phoned in from 12 far-flung constituencies in a country where half the 2.7 million people are nomads and many voters traveled to polls by horseback or camel.

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24. Japan Iraq Troops Dispatch

The Japan Times (“SDF COMMAND RESPECTED, BUT U.S. TO KEEP OVERALL AUTHORITY IN MULTINATIONAL FORCE”, 2004-06-17) reported that the US on June 15 said it respects Japan’s plan to keep Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops under its own command if the troops participate in the multinational force to be formed under a new UN Security Council resolution. “I expect, like Polish forces and British forces and Italian forces, they’re under, obviously, their own chains of command within the country,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. “But the multinational force overall is overseen by the American command.” However, McClellan was unclear on whether the autonomy that Japan argues is its prerogative would extend to withdrawing the SDF from Iraq if the security situation worsens.

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25. Japan Immigration Policy

The Japan Times (“VIETNAMESE HALT HUNGER STRIKE AT OSAKA IMMIGRATION FACILITY”, 2004-06-17) reported that Former Vietnamese boat people who staged a hunger strike inside the West Japan Immigration Center in Osaka Prefecture stopped their hunger strike on June 14 in response to repeated requests from their supporters. Nearly two dozen Vietnamese began a hunger strike on June 8 to protest their indefinite detention at the center. During the strike, many of the protesters refused to drink water and cut themselves, using their blood to write a letter of protest, according to their supporters.

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26. DPRK Ship Port Call in Japan

Kyodo (“MANGYONGBONG-92 BACK IN NIIGATA”, 2004-06-17) reported that the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92 arrived on June 16 at Niigata port on its first call since the Japan’s Diet enacted a law to ban port calls by ships considered a security threat. Some Niigata Prefectural Assembly members protested the call at the pier, but a local group working on behalf of victims of abductions by the DPRK has stopped rallies targeting the vessel.

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27. US Bases in Okinawa

Kyodo (“U.S. AIRMAN ‘RAPED’ CHILDREN IN OKINAWA”, 2004-06-17) reported that a US airman and investigator in a Guantanamo Bay espionage case is facing charges including raping and molesting children in Okinawa and California, an air force official said. Air Force Sgt. Marc Palmosina allegedly raped and molested children under the age of 12 on four separate occasions at or near the US Kadena Air Base between Oct. 1, 1998, and Oct. 1, 2001, according to a document provided by Travis Air Force Base in California. He is also accused of molesting girls under 16 at or near Kadena between May 29, 1999, and Oct. 1, 2001, and raping and molesting children under 16 at or near Vacaville, Calif., between May 29, 1999, and Oct. 1, 2003. Police in Okinawa said they are investigating whether any Japanese nationals were involved. The Kadena Air Base said Japanese are not among the victims of the alleged crimes. Palmosina had taken part in an espionage investigation centering on Senior Airman Al Halabi, who was working as an Arabic translator with suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in a US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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28. CANKOR Issue #171

The third round of multilateral talks to solve the nuclear crisis kicks off this week. Although experts and Korea watchers warn against undue optimism, the United States tables a proposal in an apparent policy about-face some say is the result of pressure from Asian allies. The proposal includes aid and security guarantees in exchange for phasing out the DPRK’s nuclear program. The DPRK tables its own proposal, requesting substantial energy aid in return for a freeze of its nuclear program. Once again, the parties cannot agree on a joint document at the end of the meeting on Saturday morning, leaving the Chinese chairman to issue a concluding statement, which we include in this issue of CanKor. In this week’s OPINION section, Robert Gallucci, co-author of the new book “Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis” answers questions from readers across the world “live online” at Washingtonpost.com.