ABSTRACT
The Six Party Talks were a process of interaction in which positions were declared, defended, and then adjusted according to the opportunities revealed and the reactions of others. They were called into being by the US, which refused to negotiate directly with North Korea over its nuclear program, and required a multilateral format to deal with the issue. As the main player the US regarded nuclear proliferation as the central issue for negotiations and expected that the other parties would join it in pressing the North into surrendering its nuclear program. The Bush administration assumed that it could orchestrate multilateral pressure against North Korea as the target state by involving China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia. It sought the denuclearization of the North while the other parties, though they understood the dangers of a nuclear North, sought to establish, maintain or expand their position on the Korean Peninsula in preparation for eventual reunification. As the pivotal player in the talks China’s interests were considerably different from the American; its main concern was supporting the North and preventing its collapse as an ally on the Korean Peninsula. It joined the talks expecting that the issue would be resolved expeditiously, and that the US and the North would come to an agreement which would preserve its ally. Russia was a supporting state for China and although the two may have different interests on the Korean Peninsula, Russia worked with China to prevent the US from resorting to harsh measures against the North. South Korea was the swing state; the Roh Administration believed it could develop a close relationship with the North to remove the threat it posed and to prepare for eventual reunification. It sided with China to head off American pressure on the North but it could never allow its alliance with the US to deteriorate, and so vacillated. Japan was the outsider in the talks though it did not begin this way. It had intended to forge an independent relationship with the North but this effort was derailed by the abduction issue which effectively cast Japan to the sidelines. The parties were variously motivated by an effort to position themselves for the end game on the Korean peninsula and to ensure themselves a place of influence in the event of reunification. For China, Russia,
and South Korea the negotiations over the nuclear issue were linked to long-term strategic interests in Northeast Asia to ensure that rivals would not benefit. This factor prevented them from wholeheartedly siding with the US over the nuclear issue, and motivated them to maintain some kind of relationship with the North which would offer them influence over the Korean Peninsula.
