At a meeting called by Russia, the members of the Six Party Talks this morning discussed the terms on which the parties might move forward on the Korean peninsula.
The meeting, concluding a tense 10-day period in which the Six Party group meet an unprecedented three times, twice with North Korea present in the group, was called after a second nuclear leak at Yongbyon nuclear facility was contained by a group of technicians and advisors from several of the nations.
With a new regime representing North Korea, ruled for decades by recently deceased Kim Jong Il, officilas from China, North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia discussed whether North Korea would advance or stay where it is with nuclear development and power.
The three from North Korea said the country was not willing to draw down but would work with the Six Parties before moving forward.
Also on the table were measures in regard to economic development and potentially using hydropower as both a replacement to nuclear power and an economic development incentive.
“That’s too distant in the future for us to really speculate on,” North Korea said, when asked at what date the country might do without nuclear weapons.
North Korea stood firm under questioning, repeatedly raising the possiblity that the first emission of radioactive gas may have been from an accident or an intervention, perhaps by a Stuxnet-like virus.
The meeting came on the same day that Iran was rowing back hard on its nuclear plant, valued at $1 billion in what experts were calling a possible “game over” scenario for the Iranian site, according to reportage in the New York Times.
The triumvirate mentioned the possible revision of the country’s constitution and the leader stated that the revised form of government, possibly available within the next six months, would not see the three individuals in the interim positions in power.
“Are you saying elections would be held in 6 months?” the group was asked. Elections in six months would be overly hasty.
“I’ll be sure to tell that to our South Korean children who are born with third eyes,” snapped the South Korean defense minister.
The graduate students of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce concluded its annual 24-hour Crisis Simulation exercise on Saturday morning with a discussion of how the scenario in the Korean peninsula played out.
