Dialogue Best Way out for DPRK Nuclear Issue: Expert

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Dialogue Best Way out for DPRK Nuclear Issue: Expert

Dialogue is the best way to resolve the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said a Chinese expert here Tuesday as six-party talks on the issue prepared to begin.

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Dialogue is the best way to resolve the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said a Chinese expert here Tuesday as six-party talks on the issue prepared to begin.

Since the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula erupted in early October last year, officials and scholars of different countries have set forth many suggestions for the settlement of the nuclear issue.

Chen Yongxing, a senior researcher of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS), said in a signed article that among the three approaches, those of economic sanctions towards the DPRK and the US solution through force are short-sighted and involved tremendous potential risks.

The third approach, that of peaceful settlement through dialogue, is the best choice, Chen acknowledged.

Chen noted in his article that the relevant resolution on economic sanctions may not possibly be passed by the UN Security Council. It will be rejected by China and Russia and will likely not be supported by the Republic of Korea (ROK).

What merits special attention is that such sanctions would arouse a strong reaction from the DPRK, and make the situation even more complicated.

The international community, China, Russia and the ROK in particular, disagree with the US appeal for force, noted Chen, adding that it would deteriorate the United States' international prestige, threaten the relationship between the United States and some of other major nations, and affect the efforts in anti-terrorism and the issues concerning the Middle East.

The solution through force will be met with a resolute and strong military counterattack from the DPRK, and result in unpredictable consequences, he said.

The peaceful settlement through dialogue is in conformity with the fundamental interests of the relevant parties, and has been accepted commonly by the international community.

Chen went on to say that dialogue is also the main policy direction of the United States and the DPRK. The reason that the DPRK played the card of the nuclear issue was intended to urge the United States to sit down at the negotiation table, so as to eventually normalize the bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, the US side always attaches great importance to the settlement of the issue through dialogue, Chen added, and US President George W. Bush expressed on a number of occasions his belief in a peaceful settlement through dialogue.

Fortunately, Chen said, four months after the Beijing trilateral talks in April, the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue have been scheduled to be held from Aug. 27 to 29.

As a close neighbor of the DPRK, China is always concerned with the developments of the Korean nuclear issue, he said. China's three principles of the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, peaceful resolution through dialogue, and maintaining the peace and stability of the peninsula have gained the endorsement from an increasing number of countries.

China has actively communicated and worked in coordination with the relevant parties and sent time and again high-ranking officials to the United States and the DPRK for a peaceful settlement through negotiation. Thanks to China's persevering mediation, the deadlock was broken.

The opening of the Beijing six-party talks is a critical step to resolve the Korean nuclear issue, said Chen, and each side should treasure all the more this hard-won opportunity.

At the same time, there may still be a number of thorny issues to emerge during the talks owing to different standpoints, different interests and the lack of mutual trust, Chen predicted.

In order to reach a satisfying outcome from the talks, Chen suggested that each side should have the future and the general situation in mind, proceeding from the highest aim of promoting peace and prosperity in northeast Asia and the world at large.

Each side, he said, should treat each other on the basis of equality, honesty, straightforwardness, and mutual understanding and mutual accommodation so as to reach a win-win result.

Moreover, each side should keep focusing on the Korean nuclear issue to avoid prolonging the talks, and each should communicate with patience, calmness and restraint, and should not take any measures to intensify the situation or to deviate from the orbit of dialogue, Chen said.

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