EDITORIAL - Back to the talks

After testing its first nuclear bomb on Oct. 9 and firing five short-range missiles last week, North Korea has agreed to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program. Pyongyang last attended the talks in September last year but pulled out three months later due to financial sanctions imposed by Washington for money laundering by the regime of Kim Jong-il. Pyongyang agreed to resume talking following a meeting brokered by its main trading partner, China, between North Korean officials and a top American diplomat who dropped hints that the sanctions, which froze bank assets overseas of the profligate Kim, could be discussed.

Talking is always better than firing missiles. With North Korea’s unpredictable leader, however, talking is no guarantee that he will give up his regime’s nuclear ambitions or ease his iron grip on his long-suffering people. Raised as the heir apparent of his father, North Korea’s "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il is used to getting what he wants. Now he has his nuclear bomb, and he is largely unstoppable.

Economic sanctions could work — if all countries cooperate, which is rarely the case in the fractious United Nations. When economic screws are tightened, Kim makes sure the ones who bear the brunt of the suffering are his hostages — his people. But when sanctions are lifted and aid pours in, he grabs the lion’s share of the goodies and his people continue to die of starvation and poor health. Instead of spending on food and other basic needs for North Koreans, Kim has poured his country’s resources into his nuclear program.

Now that he finally has the bomb, Kim is not going to give up that program, even as the six-party talks are revived and even if his regime is threatened with more sanctions. In this escalation of tension, Pyongyang is the one calling the shots. And this will be the case unless Kim dies, his regime implodes or North Koreans rise up against him. At this point, all three possibilities appear remote in the near future. The world is a giant playpen for Kim Jong-il, and he isn’t letting go of his most precious toys, his nukes.