Korea Moves

How did we finally get back to the negotiating table?
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Wednesday, July 13, 2005, at 3:52 PM PT

After a 13-month hiatus, the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear arsenal are set to resume the week after next. Why are they starting up now, as opposed to a year ago? What pushed or lured Washington and Pyongyang—the key but most resistant parties—back to the negotiating table?

The short answer is that they both found a face-saving way out of their deadlock—perhaps because they realized it was about to morph into a suicidal game of highway chicken.