ABSTRACT
The six-party process that aims at North Korea's denuclearization has long been stalled since the SPT failed to agree on a verification protocol in early December 2008. This chapter evaluates the current status of the long stalled The Six-Party Talks (SPT), analyzing the major obstacles to the restoration of the six-party process. North Korea's long-range rocket launch and the second nuclear test in 2009 were key obstacles to the resumption of the SPT. The Cheonan incident had profoundly negative effects on the denuclearization process and security in Northeast Asia. After the Cheonan incident, inter-Korean relations deteriorated to the lowest point and the crisis on the Korean Peninsula escalated. Republic of Korea (ROK) forces went ahead with live-ammunition military exercises in waters off Baengyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island within South Korean-held territory below the Northern Limit Line (NLL). South North Korean relations in 2011 can be characterized as hostile, lacking inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.
