Unfortunately if the first move is the requirement for the north to abandon its nuclear program there will never be any talks. The north will never give up its nuclear weapons and will probably never again agree to even talk about giving them up. Despite statements in the international community to never recognize the north as a nuclear power from here on out the north will very likely try to act like a nuclear power and demand that it be treated as one. The only way it might come to the table is if there is an offer of some kind of strategic arms limitation talks in which nuclear power negotiate on an even playing field (in the north's calculation of course because as we all know the north has about as much equivalent nuclear power as a single blade of grass on that level playing field – but it continues to be able to hold the region hostage to its diplomatic nuclear blackmail).
V/R
Dave
Kerry Says Any Talks Rely on Steps by North Korea
TOKYO — Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States was prepared to reach out to Kim Jong-un of North Korea if he made the first move to abandon hisnuclear weapons program.
“We need the appropriate moment, appropriate circumstance,” Mr. Kerry told reporters in Tokyo.
While he did not say specifically what steps would be needed, according to the long-standing United States position they might include a public commitment to denuclearization and such measures as halting the production of nuclear material, refraining from testing missiles and ceasing threats to attack its neighbors.
Over the past week, there has been considerable attention on the United States’ vows to militarily defend its Asian allies and its warning that North Korea should forgo a test firing a Musudan medium-range missile.
But the United States has also canceled military exercises and toned down its statements in recent weeks to try to create an atmosphere in which talks with North Korea might begin, a theme that Mr. Kerry emphasized on Sunday.
“What we really ought to be talking about is the possibility of peace,” he said in a joint news conference on Sunday with Fumio Kishid, Japan’s foreign minister. “And I think there are those possibilities.”
Sketching out his approach in his meeting later in the day with reporters, Mr. Kerry said that before talks could begin, North Korea needed to take tangible steps to demonstrate that it was serious about denuclearization.
But it seemed unlikely that that precondition for talks would be met by North Korea, given the country’s announcements that it considers itself to be a nuclear state and its dedication to a “military-first” stance that channels resources to its armed forces.
The Obama administration has been willing to conduct direct talks with Iranian officials and sought early in Mr. Obama’s first term to forge a constructive relationship with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. But the White House, in a policy that some have called strategic patience, has remained unwilling to meet openly with top North Korean officials unless they first committed to denuclearization.
Mr. Kerry indicated there were some circumstances in which he could imagine sending a representative to talk to North Korean leaders or engaging directly with the North Koreans through a diplomatic back channel.
“It may be that somebody will be asked to sit down,” he said.
“I am open personally to exploring other avenues; I particularly want to hear what the Chinese have to say,” Mr. Kerry said. “I am not going to be so stuck in the mud that an opportunity to actually get something done is flagrantly wasted.”
(Continued at the link below)
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