U.S. Hopes to Start Peace Accord Talks

The Bush administration is exploring ways to secure permanent peace in the Northeast Asian region, and as part of that effort, it hopes to start discussions with North Korea about the implementation of a peace accord as soon as this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on July 9.

The Journal reported, “The U.S. hopes to transform the six-way talks into a permanent mechanism for dialogue on security in Northeast Asia.”

Officials in the U.S and Asian nations are considering establishing an organization like ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), and the key to bringing in this kind of permanent regional security system lies in North Korea’s complete dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program, according to the report.

The newspaper also quoted Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs as saying, “If North Korea makes any progress in implementing its pledge to dismantle its nuclear-weapons program, we hope to start discussions on replacing the current truce agreement with a peace accord within this year.”

The Bush administration is examining various ways discussed in the Clinton administration in order to establish peace in the region, ranging from direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea to four-way talks, the newspaper said.

sechepa@donga.com