Six-party Talks

Nuclear-Free Korean Peninsula Is United States’ First Priority

Peace treaty for 1950s war important but secondary concern, envoy says

By Stephen Kaufman
USINFO Staff Writer
13 July 2007

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill talks to the press after a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo July 13. (©AP Images)

Washington -- The United States hopes to begin talks with North Korea aimed at achieving a peace treaty to the 1950-1953 Korean War before the end of 2007, but a senior U.S. envoy said such an agreement would not be reached until nuclear programs are eliminated from the Korean Peninsula.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Tokyo July 13 that a process aimed at ending the conflict could begin while discussions continue among North Korea, the United States, South Korea, China and Russia on ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

“[W]e’re not going to be reaching any peace agreement on the peninsula ahead of denuclearization.  But at the same time, we don't want to wait for complete denuclearization in order to start it,” Hill said.

Besides the energy and nuclear issues that are the focus of the Six-Party Talks, the United States also is interested in resolving “broader issues, as well as peace and security issues,” Hill said.

The Korean War, which began June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea, ultimately led to interventions by China and a 16-member coalition of United Nations forces led by the United States.  On July 27, 1953, the military commanders of the (North) Korean People's Army, the Chinese People's Volunteers and the United Nations Command (UNC) signed an armistice agreement at Panmunjom, in what is now the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.  No comprehensive peace agreement has replaced the 1953 armistice pact.

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Tom Casey responded July 13 to press reports that the North Korean military has asked for direct talks with the United States to discuss peace and security issues.

“We certainly have not had any formal communications about this from the North Korean government,” Casey said.   He added that the Bush administration considers that the working groups established by the six parties in the February 13 agreement provide “the appropriate channel for any kind of discussion of those kinds of issues.”  (See related article.)

According to the September 2005 agreement, Casey said, as the disarmament process moves forward, discussions will be held on “moving beyond the armistice to a more permanent peace agreement on the Korean Peninsula.”

However, the deputy spokesman sought to “caution people away from the idea that we are at a stage where … some kind of agreement along those lines is imminent,” saying, “I don't think we're there yet.”

Ambassador Hill, who is visiting Tokyo, Seoul, South Korea, and Beijing ahead of the July 18 envoy-level Six-Party discussions, said he expects North Korea will have completed its shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear facility before the meeting begins.

The United States is hoping for a full declaration of North Korea’s nuclear activities within “a few months,” and for the Yongbyon facility to be disabled “by the end of the year,” Hill said.  Looking ahead to 2008, he expressed his hope that “endgame items” such as the abandonment of the fissile material and explosive devices will be achieved.

“And we will have some requirements on our side,” he added, such as helping to provide 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or fuel oil equivalents to North Korea.

At the upcoming meeting in Beijing, “I think we can talk about the coming months and how to organize a work plan, and I hope we can achieve consensus on that,” Hill said. (See transcript.)

For more information on U.S. policy, see Limiting Nuclear Weapons and The U.S. and the Korean Peninsula.