The North Korean nuclear test comes as the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea grows more tenuous. North Korea’s nuclear test in October 2006, long threatened, nonetheless came as a shock. While the nuclear test injected new uncertainty into the prospects for regional cooperation in Northeast Asia, North Korea subsequently announced its intention to rejoin the six-party talks that bring together North and South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons capability. It is very possible that the six-party talks could evolve into the de facto instrument for managing the process of the major transition in Northeast Asia.