KYOTO -- The fourth round of six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear-weapons aspirations resumed Tuesday in Beijing after a five-week recess. One main sticking point, seemingly still unresolved, centers around North Korea's "right" to have a peaceful nuclear-energy program.
Pyongyang says it will never give up this right and expects Washington to resume construction of the nuclear light-water reactors (LWRs) promised under the now-defunct 1994 Agreed Framework. Washington, while stating that the issue of a peaceful nuclear energy program sometime in the future may not be a complete "show stopper," has rejected the idea of resuming LWR construction, indicating that neither the United States nor any of the other parties -- China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea -- are prepared to finance such an effort. While it has not said as much, there is an offer on the table from Seoul to provide North Korea with the same amount of power that would have been generated by the LWRs, presumably as compensation for letting this program die a graceful death.
As the talks resume, it may be useful to try to understand the motivation behind these conflicting stands. In discussing Pyongyang's reasons, of course, we can only make an educated guess based on its past statements and actions.