Vancouver talks have only fueled peninsula tensions

Co-hosted by the United States and Canada, the gathering of the foreign ministers of the allies that fought on the side of the United States in the Korean War has further complicated what was already a grave crisis.

The participants claimed the meeting, which concluded on Tuesday, was held because it was their firm and shared desire to avoid a devastating conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Yet the signal it has sent has been exactly the opposite.

Held at a time when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea have been in direct communication for the first time in two years, the meeting invoked the battle lines of the past conflict, with China and Russia not invited to have a say in the proceedings.