The six-party talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis have resumed in Beijing. With a month of consultations at hand, negotiators should be ready to agree on a joint statement that outlines the basic principles of any deal. A failure to release that statement will suggest that there is no basic consensus on the purpose of these talks and that this stage of multilateral diplomacy has run its course.
A deal is possible, but only if North Korea accepts that it must provide a full accounting of its nuclear programs, return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) regime, and accept the norms of international society. Of course, other nations must give in return, but the fundamental responsibility rests on Pyongyang: It will only shoulder those burdens if the other five parties speak with one voice in the negotiations.
The key questions that swirl around North Korea's nuclear program remain unanswered. Pyongyang has declared that it has nuclear weapons, but other governments are not prepared to accept that assertion. They believe that the reclusive regime continues to be a threat to regional peace and security, however, and demand that it negotiate with them over the fate of its nuclear ambitions.