US and Korea Set to Begin Talks Next Week

The US and Korean governments have agreed to begin the first ever Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership talks:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host South Korea’s Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon for the inaugural session of the so-called Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership on January 19, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

I have a feeling these talks will have more to do with getting the US out of Korea than Allied Partnership, but let’s take a look at the agenda:

“Topics of discussion will include global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual concern,” he said.

What the US is probably refering to here is the US’s desire to deploy forces from the peninsula for global use and the on going nuclear situation with North Korea plus the status on the Camp Humphreys land deal.

“The strategic consultations reflect the dynamic global partnership we have developed with the Republic of Korea and consolidate the strong bilateral cooperation that we have long shared,” McCormack said.

This sounds like nice diplomatic speak for: “we want out of Korea as quickly as possible and their is nothing you can do about it.”

Efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive and the readjustment of the traditional American-South Korean military alliance are expected to be among key topics of the discussions, analysts say.

I take this to mean that the US will end the nuclear crisis in its own way if North Korea doesn’t begin cooperating by implementing sanctions even at the expense of the US-ROK Alliance.

However you interpret the meaning of these talks it should hopefully resolve many of the outstanding issues between the two countries.