Efforts Toward Peaceful Resolution of the North Korean Nuclear Issue Through Progress in Inter-Korean Relations

Since its inauguration, the Roh Moo-hyun Administ-ration has continued to search for a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue under three principles: the unacceptability of a nuclear North Korea, peaceful resolution through dialogue and South Korea's active role in the resolution process.

The South Korean government designated making a breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear issue through the six-party talks as the core task of its security policy. It has consistently pursued advancements in inter-Korean relations to ensure that they would serve as a catalyst for the resolution of the nuclear issue.

After North Korea claimed on February 10, 2005 that it had nuclear weapons and indefinitely postponed participation in the six-party talks, the South Korean government prepared "an important proposal" to break the North Korean nuclear deadlock in a proactive manner at the earliest possible date. The core of the important proposal was to supply electricity to North Korea in return for North Korea's scrapping of its nuclear weapons.

Presidential envoy and then Unification Minister Chung Dong-young held talks with Chairman of the National Defense Commission Kim Jong-il on June 17, 2005 and explained the proposal to him. Based on the results of the talks, the two Koreas agreed at the 15th Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks on June 24, 2005, on ¡°the ultimate goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula¡± and on finding a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue through dialogue.

The 16th Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks coincided with the fourth round of the six-party talks in Beijing in September 2005. The South Korean government endeavored to deliver its message clearly to the North and induce a favorable response.

Thanks to these efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, the fourth round of the six-party talks adopted a six-point Joint Statement on September 19. It dealt with the abandoning of nuclear weapons by North Korea and implementing principles. The Joint Statement was followed by the adoption of a Chairman's Statement at the fifth round of the six-party talks in November 2005. It reaffirmed the commitment of the participating countries to the implementation of the September 19 Joint Statement.

In the future, the South Korean government will work to implement the Joint Statement and continue to exert efforts to ensure that progress in inter-Korean relations will have a positive influence on the attempt to find a resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue.