Proposal to lift sanctions sets stage for US to defuse dangerous situation

The looming year-end deadline Pyongyang has set for new proposals from Washington to revive the denuclearization talks and Monday's joint proposal by China and Russia that some sanctions be lifted on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to enhance the livelihoods of the civilian population, perhaps explains Washington's sudden newfound urgency to "maintain international unity" on the issue.

Ironically, as it is Washington that has made no tangible concessions to advance the progress of the detente between the US and the DPRK－much to Pyongyang's annoyance, since it has taken actions to demonstrate its good faith－the US State Department said that the US remains committed to diplomacy, but it "cannot do this alone".

With China and Russia taking the initiative to give fresh impetus to the momentum of denuclearization, and in so doing showing the US stance for what it is－all take, no give－that US special representative for the DPRK, Stephen Biegun, made an impromptu change to his itinerary while in Japan is hopefully a positive sign that Washington is prepared to re-engage with the issue rather than persist with the folly of its complacency.

Biegun, who was scheduled to visit only Seoul and Tokyo, will be in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, and it is to be hoped that he shows that Washington recognizes that rather than trying to pull the rug from under its feet, Beijing and Moscow have acted in good faith to set the stage for a political resolution to the issue at a critical and sensitive moment.

The current situation should not be regarded as just another spike in the timeline of tensions between the US and the DPRK, during which sanctions have never ceased taking their toll on the DPRK's fragile economy. The plight confronting the DPRK now is accumulative, not a temporary difficulty.

In other words, the proposal, the first of its kind Beijing and Moscow have submitted to the UN Security Council, drives home their shared judgment of the seriousness of the situation.

That the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been showy dramas on the US side rather than attempts to make real breakthroughs, explains why Biegun's wishful invitation in Seoul on Monday that DPRK officials come to meet him, received a cold shoulder. The US' lack of care for the DPRK's core concerns makes the atmosphere now even worse than that before the two sides' painful but fruitless Stockholm dialogue on Oct 5.

If Washington continues to refuse to take concrete actions to show it is genuine in seeking a rapprochement with Pyongyang, the window of opportunity for talks will close.