Combined with South Korea's strong resistance to taking military action against the North, the U.S. could well be cornered into conceding to North Korean demands, namely, a nonaggression treaty and a military withdrawalfrom South Korea.
In exchange for the handover of the villages, Mr Barak wants the Palestinians to postpone negotiations on a further Israeli troop withdrawalfrom the West Bank until negotiators have reached agreement on the outlines of a final peace treaty.