[Anniversary] 'Stockholm talks should be first of many meetings'

North Korean negotiator Kim Miyong-gil, center, reads a statement outside the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, in this Oct. 5, 2019, file photo. Kim said discussions with the U.S. on Pyongyang's nuclear program had broken down, but Washington said the two sides had "good discussions." Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Recent North Korean media reports have shown the country's apparent dissatisfaction with the results of working level talks held with the United States in Stockholm earlier this month.

The North's raction was unfortunate but predictable, said Ambassador Joseph Detrani, former U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks with North Korea, during a recent interview with The Korea Times. He said the two countries should continue to hold such working level talks to achieve the bigger goals they agreed upon at the Singapore summit in June 2018.

Courtesy of Joseph Detrani

"This was the first working level meeting, thus it would be unrealistic to think all issues would be resolved to the satisfaction of both countries," Detrani said.

"At a minimum, this should be the first of many working level meetings to negotiate, on an action-for-action basis, the goals pronounced in the Singapore Statement of June 12, 2018 ― to wit: Transformation of bilateral relations, an eventual peace treaty, comprehensive denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the repatriation of the remains of U.S. military personnel killed during the Korean War."

Expectations of results from the denuclearization negotiations were high after the Singapore summit last year, but the failure of the summit in Hanoi this February brought back a certain level of tension.

Beginning in April, North Korea has conducted 12 missile tests so far this year, as of Oct. 31. The 11th of which was Oct. 2, three days ahead of the Stockholm talks, and was purportedly of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.?

But the former U.S. negotiator talks said there was nothing special about such missile tests. They were rather North Korea's "routine" behavior ahead of denuclearization talks.

"North Korea's short range missile tests, and its test of a submarine (launched) ballistic missile, prior to working level talks with the U.S. wasn't surprising to me," Detrani said. "Previously, prior to plenary sessions of the six party talks, North Korea would launch one or more short range missiles. It seems to be part of their playbook."

He said it's a way for North Korea to send a message of "defiance and resolve," to show their will to "continue to upgrade its military capabilities until issues are resolved to its satisfaction."

"The U.S. not responding to these missile launches showed restraint on the part of the U.S., a message hopefully Pyongyang appreciated," he added.

Since the fruitless ending of the Stockholm talks, North Korea has been issuing statements under the names of high-level officials to condemn the U.S. for the sanctions on it.

One such statement by Kim Yong-chol, chairman of the (North's) Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC), published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Oct. 27, warned the U.S. would make an enemy of North Korea if it maintained the sanctions.

The North earlier asked the U.S. side to come up with "a new method" and "creative solution" for, in a statement issued Oct. 6, a day after the working level talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have been rather cautious, not presenting concrete future plans for negotiations. Trump only said he and Kim "get along," Oct. 21, breaking his silence over North Korea weeks after the Stockholm talks.

The Trump administration is also facing other international and domestic political issues, especially ahead of the presidential election scheduled for November next year.

But Detrani said resolving the North Korean nuclear issue should be a priority for the U.S. regardless of other issues.

"It has been a priority since the Agreed Framework of 1994," Detrani said, referring to an agreement between the U.S. and North Korea. This entailed Pyongyang freezing operation of its nuclear reactors involved in its weapons program in exchange for U.S.-supplied light water reactors, which were more difficult to use to produce nuclear weapons grade material.

Detrani also called for cooperation from other six-party countries ― South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.

Graphic by Cho Sang-won

On the unsettling history and trade row between South Korea and Japan, he called for the two U.S. allies in the East Asian region to continue to cooperate on strategic issues involving North Korea. He said renewing the "GSOMIA," or the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a military information sharing pact between the two countries, would be "a clear message" not just to North Korea but other countries in the region that "both, working with the U.S., will keep their focus on peacefully resolving issues with North Korea."

"The GSOMIA is an important arrangement dealing with sensitive national security issues. Renewing this agreement will ensure that developments with North Korea are monitored and coordinated in a timely and efficient manner," Detrani said. "The U.S. has encouraged the ROK to engage with Japan on this issue, so as to ensure that both countries' national security concerns receive priority attention. The final decision, obviously, is with the ROK and Japan."