Look for media to play the long-running six-nation talks --- tomorrow in Beijing --- focusing on North Korea nuclear disarmament like something is finally going to break, but Grumpy Editor feels it’s likely to be ho-hum time again.
Nuclear talks regarding North Korea have been going on for years.
The only hope is the change in North Korea’s leadership since Kim Jong-il died in December.
The latest session will measure if Kim’s son and successor, Kim Jong-un, is more open to diplomacy.
The six nations --- South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. --- have been sitting around tables, off and on, for more than nine years trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Recent talks (last July in New York and three months later in Geneva) made no progress.
North Korea’s routine has been to talk, followed by pauses, then more talks, followed by no resolution.
That’s been the Communist nation’s procedure since 1953 when the Korean War ended with a cease fire. North and South Korea technically remain at war with no peace treaty.
One reason nuclear disarmament talks get nowhere: North Korea, Russia and China are on the same side.
It’s been that way since the Korean War, in which Russia and China joined North Korea in fighting American and South Korean troops, among other allied forces.
After this week’s Beijing discussions, it will be interesting to see if media reports include (again) these words: deadlocked, impasse, inconclusive and recessed without agreement.
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