An international group of dignitaries called the Eminent Persons Group met with Korean President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday, November 29 in Seoul and adopted a joint statement (full text below) on how to make the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit a success.  The Presidential Office says the group expressed their strong support for the summit and recommended six ways to make it a success:

1.    Achieve progress in the 2010 Washington Summit commitments;

2.    Devise a workable vision and implementation measures for nuclear security via the Seoul Communiqué;

3.    Secure detailed country commitments from summit participants;

4.    Restore confidence in nuclear power wrought by Fukushima and actively seek ways to deal with radiological terrorism;

5.    Strengthen international and regional cooperation to deal with illegal smuggling of nuclear materials;

6.    Maintain momentum by ensuring a 3rd summit.

The Eminent Persons Group is comprised of:

Kang Chang Sun (ROK), Oh Myeong (ROK), Han Sung-joo (ROK), Graham Allison (US), Hans Blix (Sweden), Gareth Evans (Australia), Goh Chok Tong (Singapore), Igor Ivanov (Russia), A.P.J Abdul Kalam (India), Henry Kissinger (US), Shinichi Kitaoka (Japan), Li Zhaoxing (China), Sam Nunn (US), William Perry (US), Hubert Vedrine (France)

Below is the full text of the Joint Statement adopted by the Eminent Persons Group:

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Eminent Persons Group, President Lee Myung-bak, Joint Statement (all tags)

As expected, the joint statement produced by Presidents Obama and Hu was not ground-breaking on the North Korean issue. It is hard to say that there were any substantially new achievements. However, it was still a positive outcome with some meaningful points because it reflected both sides’ positions on contentious issues (regardless of an agreement), and it generally kept in line with the position of Washington’s allies.

Washington and Beijing agreed on some key points in general and in principle, but many of those key points are reaffirmation of each other’s original positions. The language is also heavily nuanced, which is normal in public diplomatic rhetoric. It appears Beijing has not steered far away from its original stance, and we can still see that Washington and Beijing hold differing views on those same key points.

KEY POINTS
Here’s a run-down of some initial thoughts on points that stand out: (Click "read more")

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(full texts)

2010.12.6 TRILATERAL STATEMENT ROK, U.S., JAPAN: WASHINGTON, DC

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Seiji Maehara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea Kim Sung-hwan, and the Secretary of State of the United States of America Hillary Rodham Clinton, met in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2010 for a ministerial trilateral. This meeting builds on longstanding efforts to intensify policy coordination and strategic dialogue among the three countries and reflects the need for greater trilateral cooperation in addressing enduring and emerging challenges. The Ministers noted that as three of the world’s major economies with shared values, the three nations have a common cause and responsibilities to maintain stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. (Click "read more")

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South Korea, U.S., Japan, Joint Statement, Yeonpyeong, North Korea, Six-Party Talks (all tags)