The issue of North Korea's nuclear-weapons development could reach a critical stage in June, one year after the suspension of six-party talks. U.S. intelligence says Pyongyang might conduct a nuclear test that month.
Will the North return to the table and rejoin a process aimed at ending its nuclear program? Or will it test a nuclear weapon and bring the dialogue to a halt once and for all? The six-nation forum stands at a crossroads.
In February, shortly after President George W. Bush entered his second term, North Korea declared that it possessed nuclear weapons and announced that it would "indefinitely suspend" the six-party talks. Pyongyang seeks direct talks with Washington to get a U.S. security guarantee for Kim Jong Il's regime.