Peninsula can still be free of tension

The Republic of Korea's (ROK) news agency Yonhap has said that Kim Kye-gwan, the first vice-foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will visit the United States this week to discuss the steps to be taken to resume the talks on the Korean Peninsula denuclearization issue. This will be the first meeting between the DPRK and the US since US special representative for the DPRK Stephen Bosworth's visit to Pyongyang in December 2009.

On July 22, Ri Yong-ho and Wi Sung-lac, heads of DPRK and ROK delegations to the Six-Party Talks, met in Bali, Indonesia, and agreed to make joint efforts to resume the Six-Party Talks. On July 23, DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun held a meeting with his ROK counterpart Kim Sung-hwan, the first time the two countries' foreign ministers had met since the 15th ASEAN Regional Forum in July 2008.

These developments indicate that the Six-Party Talks could resume soon. Although relations between the DPRK and the ROK is unlikely to warm up within a short time, neither side wants any more conflicts. DPRK-ROK relations deteriorated because of several incidents in 2010, but both countries have made efforts to resume dialogue since the beginning of this year.