The Six-Party Talks
The multilateral diplomatic framework that came closest to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis — and why it ultimately failed.
Origins of the Six-Party Framework
The Six-Party Talks brought together the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia in a multilateral diplomatic effort to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. The talks were launched in August 2003 after the collapse of the 1994 Agreed Framework — a bilateral US-DPRK deal under which North Korea had frozen its plutonium program in exchange for fuel oil shipments and the promise of light-water reactors.
The Agreed Framework unraveled in 2002 when the US confronted North Korea with evidence of a secret uranium enrichment program (which Pyongyang initially appeared to acknowledge, then denied). The Bush administration, which had labeled North Korea part of the 'axis of evil,' refused to negotiate bilaterally. China, alarmed by the prospect of a nuclear crisis on its border, stepped in as host and convener, giving Beijing an unusually prominent diplomatic role.