Professor Victor Cha of Georgetown University in the U.S. said during a trip to Seoul on Thursday that the six-party talks remain the only multilateral cooperative arrangement in Northeast Asia and are still viable as a vehicle for negotiations.

Cha said that although pessimistic views on the six-way talks are warranted, when seen from a diplomatic point of view, it would cost less to use existing structures rather than devise a new arrangement to address the issue.

Mansfield Foundation Executive Director Gordon Flake, meanwhile, says the six-party talks should be understood as a process by which the six participating nations can meet to resolve the North Korean issue and coordinate a regional agreement.

Center for U.S.-Korea Policy director Scott Snyder said on North Korea’s uranium enrichment facilities that it is likely there are other such facilities aside from Yongbyon, adding that the Yongbyon facility is a de facto failure by the international community to stop North Korea from developing a nuclear program.