Assessment of the Korea Nuclear Six-Party Talks

The Six-Party Talks （SPT）, a multilateral mechanism for solving the North Korean nuclear issue and launched in 2003, have helped to maintain peace in Northeast Asia through consensus building and spurring countries to take action. However, divergences in interest, lack of mutual trust - especially that between North Korea and the U.S. - have impeded the talks. Future prospects for the talks hinge on changes to the Northeast Asian sub-regional security environment, the Pyongyang-Washington relationship as well as the outcome of the Iranian nuclear issue.