Let's talk it over

International | NORTH KOREA: U.S. officials press for a new round of diplomacy with North Korea—as some in the Senate emphasize the dismal human-rights conditions under Kim Jong Il | Priya Abraham

American officials are trying to nudge a diplomatic beast—six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program—with gain and no pain. Hwang Jang Yop knows pain. After the former Communist Party official fled North Korea and became its highest-level defector, he learned that his wife reportedly committed suicide and one daughter died mysteriously. Another daughter and son have been confined to labor camps.

Despite his recent trip to the United States to brief lawmakers on repression in his homeland, U.S. officials are more focused on the urgency of disarming the North Koreans. A second round of talks could take place in Beijing by mid-December, four months after the first talks ended. The first round concluded with the participants —North and South Koreas, Japan, Russia, China, and the United States—agreed on one point only: To keep talking.