WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
|
News Analysis: DPRK declaration a breakthrough, more efforts needed
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-27 08:05 MEANINGS The breakthrough made over the declaration was meaningful to the DPRK. Denuclearization was set to be accomplished in line with the principle of "commitment for commitment, action for action." The U.S. will accordingly start the process of removing the DPRK from a list of state sponsors of terrorism and stop penalizing it under the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act. If the DPRK was really de-listed and sanctions against it were lifted, the U.S.-DPRK bilateral ties would be improved further, which would also help the DPRK going back into the international community and create a more advantageous international environment for its development. The improvement of U.S.-DPRK ties will also help ease the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and is conducive to safeguarding peace and stability in the region. PENDING ISSUES A new round of six-party talks was likely to be called soon after the declaration. But denuclearization still needs more breakthroughs over many thorny issues to be made. The U.S. is to verify the accuracy of the declaration in the next weeks and the DPRK should provide full cooperation, otherwise the United States would take corresponding measures, Washington said. There are media reports saying U.S. and DPRK officials have held several negotiations on the verification issue but to date no information is available about whether consensus or understanding has been reached. Other issues including accelerating the process of disabling the nuclear facilities of the DPRK and the providing of energy and economic assistance to the country by relevant parties are also to be addressed. Political issues need more wisdom compared to the technical issues. The Bush administration's request of removing the DPRK from its terrorism and sanctions blacklists may face challenges in the Democrat-dominated Congress. Otherwise, the Bush administration is counting its White House days. Would the new host of the Oval Office take a new line toward the DPRK? Tokyo, supposed to normalize relations with the DPRK under the six-party agreement framework, has been critical of any U.S. move to de-list the DPRK until it accounts for all Japanese civilians believed kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s. All those variables may slow down or even reverse the disarmament of the DPRK's nuclear program and will prove it to be a very long and exhausting process. |
