Negotiators have begun the fifth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. There were high hopes for progress after the fourth round produced a joint statement agreed on by all parties. Whatever momentum existed was quickly lost, however, when the discussions stalemated and broke off after three days. The break was planned -- representatives needed to join their leaders at the APEC Leaders Summit held this week in Pusan, South Korea. Hopefully, the negotiators will return to the talks with new instructions and a new will to find common ground. Failure to move the negotiations forward will raise serious -- if not fatal -- questions about the utility of the six-party format.
On Sept. 19, the six parties agreed on a framework for negotiations. It took four rounds of talks to acknowledge that the goal of the negotiations is "the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner" and that North Korea would receive aid, assistance and diplomatic recognition in exchange for eliminating its nuclear program. In addition, the parties agreed to take action "in a phased manner in line with the principle of 'commitment for commitment, action for action.' "
That broad framework is only a start. The parties still have to devise a road map to guide its implementation. No one should have expected substantial progress toward that goal in the three days of talks that were held last week. But, it was not unrealistic to expect the talks to resume in a positive atmosphere. Unfortunately, even that appears to have been too much to ask.