Ending the North Korean Nuclear Crisis - Six Parties, Six Perspectives

Enigmatic as ever, North Korea sparks interest like no other country. If not the official release of new footage of Kim Jong-Il, rumoured to have succumbed to a heart attack, the world's media report on the latest twist in the ongoing nuclear crisis. Distracted by incidents, the wider background to the nuclear crisis is often overlooked. For more than five years, six countries - North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - have been working towards a negotiated solution. The so-called Six-Party Talks seek a settlement by addressing the global, regional and national concerns of all of the countries involved. In doing so, they effectively function as an informal multilateral framework and ongoing security dialogue. Unimpressed with an exclusively North Korea-focused narrative, this study edited by Koen De Ceuster and Jan Melissen offers a broader perspective.

It enhances insight into the conditions and factors that contribute to success or failure of this diplomatic process, and argues that the Six-Party Talks have the potential to become a permanent security mechanism for North-East Asia.

Contributors:

Koen De Ceuster (Leiden University)

Dick Leurdijk (Clingendael)

Sico van der Meer (Clingendael)

Jan Melissen (Clingendael)

Maaike Okano-Heijmans (Clingendael)

Frans-Paul van der Putten (Clingendael)

Marc Vogelaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

ISBN 978-90-5031-1311, Clingendael Diplomacy Paper 18, 126 pp November 2008 -The Clingendael Institute - The Hague

This publication will be presented at a Clingendael seminar on 27 October. The seminar is entitled This publication will be presented at a Clingendael seminar on 27 October. The seminar is entitled "

The Six Party Talks: Precursor for a Peace and Security Mechanism in Northeast Asia?".

Enigmatic as ever, North Korea sparks interest like no other country. If not the official release of new footage of Kim Jong-Il, rumoured to have succumbed to a heart attack, the world's media report on the latest twist in the ongoing nuclear crisis. Distracted by incidents, the wider background to the nuclear crisis is often overlooked. For more than five years, six countries - North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - have been working towards a negotiated solution. The so-called Six-Party Talks seek a settlement by addressing the global, regional and national concerns of all of the countries involved. In doing so, they effectively function as an informal multilateral framework and ongoing security dialogue. Unimpressed with an exclusively North Korea-focused narrative, this study edited by Koen De Ceuster and Jan Melissen offers a broader perspective.

It enhances insight into the conditions and factors that contribute to success or failure of this diplomatic process, and argues that the Six-Party Talks have the potential to become a permanent security mechanism for North-East Asia.

Contributors:

Koen De Ceuster (Leiden University)

Dick Leurdijk (Clingendael)

Sico van der Meer (Clingendael)

Jan Melissen (Clingendael)

Maaike Okano-Heijmans (Clingendael)

Frans-Paul van der Putten (Clingendael)

Marc Vogelaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

ISBN 978-90-5031-1311, Clingendael Diplomacy Paper 18, 126 pp November 2008 -The Clingendael Institute - The Hague

This publication will be presented at a Clingendael seminar on 27 October. The seminar is entitled "

The Six Party Talks: Precursor for a Peace and Security Mechanism in Northeast Asia?".