On July 9, the day United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began her East Asia journey with a stop in China, the Central News Agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced the country's agreement to return to the six-party talks.

On the same day, a White House spokesperson said in Washington, DC the United States welcomed the DPRK's move and hoped for a fruitful round of talks in the last week of July.

The DPRK made the announcement after a meeting in Beijing on July 9 with government officials from the United States. Both sides agreed to a fourth round of talks scheduled to start on July 26.

The news has once more brought Korean Peninsula nuclear affairs to the public's attention.

Since the end of the third round of negotiations in June last year, horse-trading has been going on only behind the scenes.

There has been a recent flurry of shuttle diplomacy. First Rice visited China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK); next State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, as Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy, visited the DPRK from July 12-14.

On July 14 there was a discussion among representatives of the United States, the ROK and Japan, and this will be followed by Tang's visit to the United States and an ROK delegation's trip to China.

These frantic diplomatic goings-on demonstrate the last-minute preparations each side is engaged in as they work to ensure that Round Four will be productive.

The United States and the DPRK restarted contact in May through the so-called New York Channel. Then ROK President Roh Moo-hyun went to Washington to meet US President George W. Bush. Shortly afterwards, the DPRK and the ROK held their 15th ministerial level meeting, resulting in a 12-point agreement.

It is noteworthy that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il met ROK Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on June 15. This injected fresh hope into the talks, which had been stalled for a year.

Kim said if the United States respects the DPRK, the nation would not need to have nuclear weapons and it would be willing to return to the talks as early as in July.

Chung Dong-young made a major proposal, saying if the DPRK gives up nuclear weapons, the ROK would provide a massive programme of economic aid. Kim said he would study the proposal.

Later, the United States acknowledged the DPRK is a sovereign nation and reiterated the United States had no intention to invade it. The DPRK interpreted this as the United States recanting its previous view of the country as an "outpost of tyranny." This has helped create the right conditions for further talks.

The DPRK announced in February it had nuclear weapons in its arsenal. This, no doubt, has added another level of complexity to the next round of talks. If a road map for solving the DPRK nuclear impasse emerges from these talks, they will be a success. But to achieve this result, the following efforts must be made.

First, the DPRK must give up nuclear weapons and the United States must provide security guarantees. In the previous three rounds of talks, the two countries got bogged down in arguing who should take the first step. Giving up nuclear weapons could be a long and complicated process, and it is unthinkable that one should act while the other waits in the wings.

Second, irrelevant topics have no place in negotiations that must be more focused. At the same time, each side should avoid provocative language and contribute to a healthy environment for the talks.

It is positive that the United States has called Kim Jong-il "Mr Kim," and Kim has referred to Bush as "an interesting person."

The ROK has played an important role in launching the coming round of discussions. Since last summer it has maintained contact with the DPRK on many different levels, including high-level communication.

The ROK expressed its willingness to act as a "balancer" in North East Asian affairs, and it has demonstrated its intentions through its "major proposal," which has been garnering a lot of attention.

On July 12 the ROK proposed that if the DPRK forfeits nuclear weapons and calls off its currently suspended light-water reactor programme, the ROK will provide 2 million kilowatts of electric power. The ROK will also offer half a million tons of rice and link the two countries' railway systems.

This suggestion is a key part of President Roh's efforts to break the deadlock with his country's neighbour.

As the host country, China has maintained dialogue with all of the other parties to determine the schedule and specific topics for discussion.

Since February when the DPRK announced its possession of nuclear weapons, China has twice sent envoys. The first was Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on February 19, and the second was Tang Jiaxuan.

China hopes all parties will have "sufficient patience" to solve the nuclear standoff. The Chinese believe, no matter how convoluted discussions would become, each side should have the confidence to resolve the matter peacefully, through dialogue.

China's role has been widely acknowledged. Rice praised the Chinese Government for its efforts that led to the resumption of the talks. Kim Jong-il, too, when meeting Tang Jiaxuan, expressed his appreciation of China's efforts.

Source: China Daily