The JoongAng Ilbo joined the Chosun in its analysis that "underlying the turnaround" in relations was last week's announcement that additional South Korean troops would be sent to Iraq. "The essence of the alliance is an attitude to help each other when in need," it observed. It was time that that spirit was "applied ... to the North Korean nuclear problem".
Mr Bush's offer of security guarantees for Pyongyang was a positive sign, but still "more progressive policies" from Washington were required, said the JoongAng. The Chosun agreed. The current six-party talks with North Korea were inherently cumber-some and slow-moving: "The [South] Korean and American governments need to come up with a new formula for persuading and pressuring the North."
The American overture did, however, "indicate a change in tack for Washington", said the Korea Times. The US president had made it clear that he did not have North Korea in its sights, and it was now up to Pyongyang to reciprocate. "With the ball now in its court, the North should return to the multilateral negotiating table as quickly as possible to settle the nuclear crisis through diplomacy so as to restore peace and stability on the peninsula and the world as well," said the paper.
There was little sense of a diplomatic thaw emerging from across the border, however. In an editorial on Tuesday, the state-owned Rodong Sinmun remarked that "the six-way talks clearly proved the US's true intention to totally disarm and destroy [North Korea]."
The Korean Central News Agency - which, like the Rodong, made no reference to the statements at Apec - was equally unyielding. North Korea "will further increase its nuclear deterrent as a self-defensive measure as long as the US ... pursues a nuclear stand-off", it said. It added, chillingly: "When an appropriate time comes, [North Korea's] increased nuclear deterrent force will be demonstrated in practice."
