US Considering Permanent 5-Party Framework on North Korea

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel said that Washington is considering the proposal of South Korean president to make the five-party framework for denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsular.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States is considering a South Korean proposal to make the five-party framework for denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsular a permanent diplomatic fixture, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel said on Tuesday.

"President Park [Geun-hye of South Korea] herself has proposed convening the five parties as its own process, which is certainly an idea we are considering," Russel said at a Center for Strategic International Studies conference on the future of the Korean Peninsula.

The United States, South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia comprise the five parties, which originally convened for Korean unification and nuclear talks with North Korea in 2003. The six party talks collapsed in 2009 after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test and withdrew from the dialogue.

Both Russia and China have called for reopening the six-party dialogue track over the past year.

In January, North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test, followed by a series of missiles tests. In response, the United Nations Security Council imposed what it considers the toughest sanctions to date on Pyongyang.