Hill Admits Six Party Talks Stalled Again

Less than three months before the next election and after the United States  gave up key  demands on  disclosure and disarmament, North Korea  is balking at verification of even its limited nuclear disclosure.  The talks are now stalled, but U.S. negotiator Chris Hill tells us that we must continue to be  patient:

“As you know in the Six-Party process we’ve often suffered delays. We’re in another delay now, but I just want to stress that we are ready to de-list [North Korea from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism] as soon as we get a verification protocol that’s consistent with international standards. So let’s be patient here and see with what the DPRK [North Korea] comes back with.   [Epoch Times]

Maybe we should start a pool on what Hill will try to give away next  to achieve some more “momentum” (I vote for Tokdo).  I should probably also record these famous last words:

“These are serious matters. It’s got to be real verification. We’re trying to verify the amount of plutonium that they are declaring, and in order to verify the amount of plutonium, there are certain things you have to do, and so I think those things are pretty internationally understood ….

Why  do I have this nagging suspicion that even as we speak, Hill is looking for some way to  water down verification until it’s such a sham that even the North Koreans will go along with it?   I’ll probably  be throwing Hill’s words back at him by late September.