5 Reasons why the 6-party talks ended in an impasse

1. North Korea thinks it is now nuclear power.  Japan does NOT think so.

2. The U.S. wants to verify North Korean abandonment of its nuclear program…that Japan says doesn't exist.

3. North Korea will NOT even talk to the U.S. about its nuclear issue unless the U.S. first lifts its economic sanctions.

4. The US regards to the North will 'too much hostility' for the North to want to talk with them about nuclear PLANS, much less existing nuclear weapons, that nobody believes they have.

5. The US thinks that the North does not have the authority to negotiate the nuclear issue = the US doesn't think the DPRK has nuclear weapons either.

China's top negotiator says that dialogue is needed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. But, first the 6 parties need to find something to talk about besides what two countries think doesn't even exist.

It's almost like a challenge – "show us a REAL nuclear test" and then we will talk.  Or "let us see that you are not planning more tests" and then we will talk.

But, the DPRK "show us the money" and then we will talk.

Impasse.