UK KFA Analysis of the DPRK-US Talks

UK KFA Analysis of the DPRK-US Talks
On Wednesday 29th of February the Korean Central News Agency carried an article on the recent DPRK-US talks in Beijing stating
"Delegations of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States of America (U.S.) met in Beijing, China on 23rd and 24th of February for the third round of the high-level talks between the DPRK and the U.S.

Present at the talks were the delegation of the DPRK headed by Kim Kye Gwan, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the delegation of the U.S. headed by Glyn Davies, the Special Representative of the State Department for the DPRK Policy."

These talks and their conclusions have caused much comment from both friend and foe of the DPRK . What have they achieved, is the DPRK selling out as some worry ? Is the agreement a victory for the US ?

The talks have agreed in principle for the 6 party(DPRK,China, Russia Japan ,US and south Korea)talks to resume. These have not taken place since 2008. Significantly it said that once the 6 party talks resume then the lifting of sanctions can be discussed, This is a concession by the US side.
The DPRK agreed to a moratorium on nuclear tests, missile tests and uranium enrichment. This is a moratorium and is not unconditional as it states that the moratorium is "while productive dialogues continue". This point needs to be stressed.
Moreover it is not a complete freeze of the DPRK nuclear facilities and certainly not the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK and the dismantling of its nuclear facilities. Many times that the US had tried to insist on the complete dismantling of the DPRK,s nuclear facilities . So the US has failed to get its way through diplomacy. In 1994 and 2007 the DPRK froze or disabled their nuclear facilities. This time round they have not done. Of course if the US nuclear threat to the DPRK is completely removed then this probably will be talked about.

Much has been made by hostile commentators about the DPRK's moratorium on nuclear tests and the provision of food by the US. The DPRK did not request the supply of food aid as an earlier KCNA commentary of January 11th stated "What cannot be overlooked is the fact that the hostile forces have talked nonsense that the DPRK asked for food aid due to the hardships by the great loss to the nation." It is the US that had put the issue on the table . In fact the US is not even offering grain but "nutritional assistance". In fact there is no "famine" in the DPRK
The agreement between the US and DPRK notwithstanding tensions caused by the south Korean puppet regime and the US, should lead to the lessening of tensions on the Korean peninsula leaving the DPRK free to concentrate on its celebrations in April and also the tasks of economic construction and raising living standards. The biggest losers in any agreement between the DPRK and US is south Korea . South Korea will lose out if there are direct agreements between the DPRK and US will become isolated.
The recent agreement between the DPRK and US is a diplomatic victory for the DPRK but it remains to be seen whether the US is honest and sincere in implementing it or not.

UK KFA