Setbacks: Kidnapping an old man

Nearly a month ago on October 26, 2013 Merrill Newman, an american citizen, was arrested by North Korean officials just before leaving North Korea upon the completion a 10 day, government approved tour.  North Korean officials have refused to release any information regarding the health of the 85 year old Korean war veteran.  Due to the lack of an American presence in North Korea, the Swedish Embassy has been negotiating on his behalf.  This is the second American citizen that North Korea has detained (the first one still being imprisoned after a year) however what is puzzling about this citizen's arrest is that no one even knows why he has been arrested.  He was pulled off of his plane just before it took off, with the only reports of a possible cause for arrest being that he got into an argument with the tour guide about certain aspects of the Korean war.

            This happening just before North Korea's statement that they will consider re-entering the Six-Party talks presents a unique problem.  They claim that they will only consider re-entering if there are no conditions  that must be met before they enter, however they then arrest American citizens.  This makes it next to impossible to comply with their demands.  Another reason that this complicated peace talks is because North Korea has been accused of using prisoners as bargaining chips in the past in order to slant the arguments in their favor.  So one could argue that it would not only be a bad idea to allow North Korea to enter the Six-Party talks without releasing their foreign prisoners, it could prove to be catastrophic.  This causes a stalemate, as North Korea has announced that they won't comply with any conditions before they enter the Six-Party talks, and it would be foolish to allow them to enter with such crucial bargaining chips. 

             It will be interesting to see who's iron will is going to break first, because one of the parties is going to have to stand down before any progress is made, and neither side is known for responding well to coercion.  This situation will most likely develop at a rapid pace throughout the next few weeks and will without a doubt be worthy of a few headlines.