South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on Thursday called on North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity toward dialogue with denuclearization measures before returning to the negotiating table.

Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s vice foreign minister in charge of nuclear bargaining, reiterated a willingness to break the standoff through “various forums including the six-party talks” at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui on Wednesday in Beijing.

But Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s top nuclear negotiator, stressed the need for “stronger obligations” on Pyongyang for any resumption of talks than what was agreed in its deal with Washington last year.

On Feb. 29, 2012, the North agreed to put a moratorium on its nuclear enrichment program, cease atomic and missile tests and allow IAEA inspectors in exchange for 240,000 tons of food aid. 

But the so-called Leap Day Deal, sealed between Kim and Glyn Davies, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, fell apart about a month later with the communist state’s test of a long-range missile.

“Dialogue for the sake of dialogue means nothing. If dialogue doesn’t lead to substantive progress, future talks will become more difficult,” Cho told reporters in Washington.

Cho, special representative for Korean Peninsular peace and security affairs at the Foreign Ministry, dismissed the North’s surprise offer last Sunday of a high-level meeting with the U.S. to discuss its campaign for a nuclear-free world.

“It seems to refer to the denuclearization of not just the Korean Peninsula but also the entire outside world, which would make our denuclearization talks difficult,” he added.

His remarks came after a trilateral consultation with Davies and Shinsuke Sugiyama, director-general of Japan’s Asian and Oceanian affairs.

The three envoys reaffirmed their commitment to the six-nation forum’s Sept. 19, 2005 joint statement including its “core goal of the verifiable denuclearization” of the peninsula.

After Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, the talks were initiated also with China and Russia with the aim of disarming the unruly state. The talks have been inactive since late 2008.

“We agreed a path is open for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea toward improved relations with the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea if the DPRK takes meaningful steps on denuclearization; we will judge the DPRK by its actions, not its words,” they said in a statement released by the U.S. State Department.

Kim’s remarks are the latest in a series of North Korean overtures that apparently reflect its political and economic concerns and mounting pressure from China, its biggest ally and patron. Cho is also scheduled to visit Beijing on Thursday.

Choe Ryong-hae, director of the General Political Bureau of the (North) Korean People’s Army, also traveled to Beijing late last month as leader Kim Jong-un’s special envoy and signaled his intention for dialogue.

Seoul and Washington, however, remained steadfast in their demand for Pyongyang to prove the regime was ready to engage in “credible negotiations.”

“Many countries including us have been requesting North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity not by words but by action, which is necessary for meaningful talks given North Korea’s provocations all the while,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young told a news briefing on Thursday.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Wednesday: “There are steps that North Korea needs to take, including credible denuclearization, abiding by their international obligations and by the 2005 joint statement. And certainly we’re not for talks for talks.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)