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The tempo of discussion has increased over future political and security architecture for Northeast Asia as nuclear and other issues involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) become more malleable. The current visit of Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Japan, South Korea, and China hopefully will advance this dynamic.

The six-party process has yielded a range of options for the eventual incorporation of North Korea into a web of relationships designed to encourage its positive behavior, build trust (or at least a measure of predictability), and integrate the once-hermit kingdom into the regional economy. But the overwhelming focus on the DPRK may miss the mark in two important respects: an opportunity to craft a bolder vision of Northeast Asian integration on its own merits; and forging linkages for a "greater Asia" with Southeast Asia, primarily the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the emergent ASEAN Plus Three and East Asia Summit processes.

Six-party experts seem to expect greater definition of regionalism for the northeastern tier to be revealed in late 2008 or 2009. Russia has been charged to "mother-hen" this aspect of the six-party process and a senior U.S. official is to visit Moscow soon to continue the official conversation on regional architecture. Some Asian regionalists would argue that the effort should be more expansive – though not greatly more ambitious – and somewhat less tuned to the narrower objectives of DPRK integration and controlling Pyongyang’s behavior.