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By Kang Hyun-kyung
Wi Sung-lac was South Korea’s longest-serving chief nuclear negotiator since the six-party talks to terminate North Korea’s nuclear program were launched in the early 2000s.
But Wi, South Korea’s new ambassador to Russia, never sat down at the negotiating table with his counterparts as the multilateral talks were stalled while he held the position from February 2009 to October 2011.
The veteran diplomat, 57, said he has “no regrets” over this.
“The six-party talks are a format where all players gather to conclude what they negotiated outside the multilateral talks,” he said.
Over the past two years and eight months, Wi had several rounds of meetings with his counterparts from the United States, China, Japan, Russia and even North Korea.
Wi said he tried not to be misled by a small win such as bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table because talks for the sake of talking are doomed to be short-lived.
During the hiatus in the nuclear talks, he laid the groundwork for “a real win” over North Korea ― denuclearization ― with what he called a macro-level, holistic approach.
Under the three-point scheme, Wi said a realistic understanding of North Korea, the China factor and the internal dynamics of the North at a time of a dynastic power succession are core elements for a durable North Korea policy.
“North Korea tends to play all cards they can if that is what it takes to win the game,” he said. “Provocation is part of their tactic to win over their counterparts. For North Korea, both provocation and dialogue are tools to fulfill their purpose.”
Figuratively speaking, Wi said, a sword is among a deck of cards North Korea has in its hand, while playing a card game with others.
“Having said that, I won’t be surprised even if the North commits belligerent acts at a time when dialogue is underway.”
He called on Seoul’s policymakers to have a realistic view of what North Korea is and then address its unique negotiation pattern when mapping out a strategy to deal with the provocative player.
Wi warned of the danger of playing the North Korea card in domestic politics. If Seoul tries to “do business” with the North for the sake of short-sighted political gains, North Korea will try to take advantage of it, he said.
China factor
While serving as the chief nuclear negotiator, Wi directed his team to study the China factor in an effort to untangle the North Korean nuclear puzzle.
According to him, China, North Korea’s decades-long benefactor, has a unique role in the North Korea game. When South Korea, the United States and Japan slapped sanctions on the North, he said North Korea’s trade reliance on China grew.
“Given the role of China in North Korea, it will be difficult to end the North’s nuclear program with the road map having no understanding of the China factor and its implications.”
Wrapping up his negotiator role, the ambassador came up with a set of recommendations on China for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
He said some of them will be unveiled soon, but he declined to give his recommendations in great detail.
Wi said the internal dynamics of North Korea is another factor that can have an impact on the communist state’s decades-long pursuit of a nuclear program.
“We don’t know in great detail about the North’s next leader. We also cannot rule out the possibility that the succession turns out the way that the North Korean regime doesn't want,” he said.
“A variety of variables are lurking in the leadership succession period as it is underway at a time when the North Korean leader’s health is declining and economic hardships continue in the impoverished nation.”
The new ambassador to Russia noted, “We South Korea need to be fully prepared for any kinds of contingencies in the North.”
Wi was appointed as ambassador for Russia at a time when bilateral ties show signs of reaching a new level as the plan to construct a natural gas pipeline connecting the two Koreas to the Russian Far East gains momentum.
He is scheduled to head to Moscow in mid-November to assume his new mission. He is the first chief nuclear negotiator assuming an ambassadorial post in one of the so-called four power nations. The three others are the United States, China and Japan.
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