The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Revenge rises as key theme in K-dramas

  • 3

    Consumers choose to travel abroad over purchasing luxury goods

  • 5

    Sexual assaults by Korean diplomats continue despite zero-tolerance policy

  • 7

    Outback Steakhouse sees sales soar as it opens stores in large shopping malls

  • 9

    Samsung, SK avoid worst-case scenario as US 'guardrails' are less stringent than feared

  • 11

    Korean pension fund hit by overseas banking crisis

  • 13

    INTERVIEWKorean adoptee in Germany reunites with birth family after 42 years

  • 15

    Campaign launched to promote equal treatment for multicultural families

  • 17

    Investment banks compete for HMM sale advisory roles

  • 19

    INTERVIEWRetired FSC chief finds inspiration exploring Koreans' ancestral roots

  • 2

    Zebra captured after escaping from Seoul zoo

  • 4

    Korean firms balk at donating to fund compensating victims of Japan's forced labor

  • 6

    World water day

  • 8

    Main opposition leader indicted, faces calls to resign

  • 10

    Jeon Jong-seo discusses her first Hollywood role in 'Mona Lisa and Blood Moon'

  • 12

    Apple working on expanding Apple Pay service in Korea: senior executive

  • 14

    Childbirths sink 6% to fresh low in January

  • 16

    Sandstorm from China forecast to push up fine dust levels in Korea

  • 18

    Hyundai Heavy achieves world's first 200 million BHP milestone

  • 20

    Opposition leader indicted over development corruption scandal

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Yun Byung-se
  • Kim Won-soo
  • Ahn Ho-young
  • Kim Sang-woo
  • Lee Kyung-hwa
  • Mitch Shin
  • Peter S. Kim
  • Daniel Shin
  • Jeon Su-mi
  • Jang Daul
  • Song Kyung-jin
  • Park Jung-won
  • Cho Hee-kyoung
  • Park Chong-hoon
  • Kim Sung-woo
  • Donald Kirk
  • John Burton
  • Robert D. Atkinson
  • Mark Peterson
  • Eugene Lee
  • Rushan Ziatdinov
  • Lee Jong-eun
  • Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho
  • Bernhard J. Seliger
  • Imran Khalid
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Jason Lim
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Steven L. Shields
  • Deauwand Myers
  • John J. Metzler
  • Andrew Hammond
  • Sandip Kumar Mishra
Fri, March 24, 2023 | 06:17
Tong Kim
If Obama calls Kim Jong-un
Posted : 2013-09-29 17:35
Updated : 2013-09-29 17:35
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Tong Kim

President Obama's call to Iranian President Rouhani on Friday marked the first direct talks between the leaders of the United States and Iran in three decades. This reminds me of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wish of March, as relayed by former basketball star Dennis Rodman who met with him, that he would like Obama to call him to lay the ground for a diplomatic resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue.

Obama's call to Rouhani took place after exchanges of positive statements about each other, a bilateral foreign ministerial meeting, and a U.S. attempt to have a brief encounter with the Iranian leader during the U.N. General Assembly last week in New York. After the 15-minute call that was initiated by Rouhani, Obama said a "comprehensive solution" could be reached on Iran's nuclear program, although there would be "important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed."

Proponents of improved U.S.-Iran relations quickly hailed the call as a historic breakthrough to the Iranian nuclear issue. Opponents, including Republicans in Congress and American allies in Israel, expressed their skepticism about the prospect of a diplomatic resolution that scraps Iran's nuclear weapons ambition in return for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.

Iran denies the Western charges that its uranium enrichment program was geared toward manufacturing nuclear weapons. Iran maintains its program is for internationally recognized peaceful use of nuclear energy. Obama said the United States "respects the right of the Iranian people to access peaceful energy." Obama and Rouhani have instructed their people to work toward a transparent and verifiable agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

Also, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is said to have spoken against the development of a nuclear weapon and gave full authority to Rouhani to negotiate the nuclear issue with the United States and other major powers. Obama's recent diplomacy toward Iran and Syria transcending domestic and allied constraints casts an interesting contrast to his stonewalling position to North Korea's pursuit of dialogue with the United States.

A big difference between Iran and North Korea is: the former is strongly suspected of moving to develop a nuclear weapon, whereas the latter has declared it has developed a nuclear weapon. The United States, South Korea, China and the rest of the international community do not recognize its nuclear status. Another important difference is that Iran has never reached an international agreement on its nuclear program, while North Korea had a number of agreements, but failed to keep them.

Given the two unfortunate decades of nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, Obama may have good reason not to initiate a call to Kim Jong-un, even though he may share the view that a presidential initiative, as a top-to-bottom approach, could be instrumental in resolving some issues that would not be resolved by low tier diplomat under the level of assistant secretaries.

Right now, Washington and Seoul would not engage Pyongyang unless it takes "pre-steps" in action not in word, to prove its seriousness to denuclearization. The pre-steps presumably would include suspension of the ongoing nuclear activities at Yongbyon and re-invitation of IAEA inspectors to the North. Pyongyang calls for unconditional talks including six-party talks, but it is unlikely to take the "pre-steps" demanded of it under current circumstances.

In the meantime, North Korea keeps improving its nuclear technology, spinning an increasing number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, while it may have resumed the operation of its plutonium production facilities to increase its nuclear arsenal. It may be planning a fourth nuclear test to perfect the methods of nuclear miniaturization to load a nuclear device to a missile.

At a conference sponsored by the Asan Policy Institute in Seoul last week, nuclear scientists argued that North Korea might need just one more test to succeed in miniaturization. Some of them suggested that North Korea is capable of making indigenous critical components of centrifuges, which would indicate that the increased implementation of U.N. sanctions even with China's active participation does not affect the advancement of Pyongyang's uranium program.

Watching North Korea correctly, for its political, economic, military, or nuclear area, is very difficult due to a lack of reliable information and data and sometimes because of a bias against or in favor of it. Only when we maintain our rational objectivity, can we come up with a best educated guess for a given area. In the nuclear area, there seems to be a consensus among objective scientists that North Korea's nuclear capability will keep growing, unless it is addressed more effectively. Otherwise, the nuclear program would continue to a point where the North Koreans determine they have developed it enough.

Pyongyang's last-minute cancellation of a planned reunion of separated families ― another obstacle to nuclear talks if an improved inter-Korean relationship is still a condition to such talks ― puzzled many North Korea watchers who had thought the North would go through with it because the North badly wanted to resume tourism to Mt. Geumgang as an additional source of hard currency from the South.

One can speculate several reasons for the cancellation. Probably, the main reason should have been Seoul's unintended hurt of Pyongyang's pride by claiming that its "trust-building process" and "principled hardliner approach" successfully pressured the North to come along with the South in making progress in inter-Korean relations.

There seems a slim chance for any progress in North Korean denuclearization. Should Obama consider calling Kim Jong-un? Things have changed since Obama had said in 2008 that if elected, he would meet with leaders of Iran and North Korea. What's your take?

The writer is a research professor at the Illmin Institute of International Relations at Korea University and a visiting professor at the University of North Korean Studies. He is also an ICAS fellow. Reach him at tong.kim8@yahoo.com.

 
Top 10 Stories
1[INTERVIEW] Korean adoptee in Germany reunites with birth family after 42 years INTERVIEWKorean adoptee in Germany reunites with birth family after 42 years
2Will exempting foreign nannies from minimum wage boost Korea's birth rate? Will exempting foreign nannies from minimum wage boost Korea's birth rate?
3Retailers rush to adopt Apple Pay system Retailers rush to adopt Apple Pay system
4[INTERVIEW] Expert pitches Laotian rural reform to solve NK's chronic food shortages INTERVIEWExpert pitches Laotian rural reform to solve NK's chronic food shortages
5Daughter of North Korean dictator seen wearing $1,900 Dior jacket Daughter of North Korean dictator seen wearing $1,900 Dior jacket
6[INTERVIEW] Forbes-listed entrepreneur pursues partnerships with Samsung, LG, SK to help Ukraine INTERVIEWForbes-listed entrepreneur pursues partnerships with Samsung, LG, SK to help Ukraine
7Will Apple Pay launch boost local iPhone sales? Will Apple Pay launch boost local iPhone sales?
8[INTERVIEW] 'Welcome to world of art therapy' INTERVIEW'Welcome to world of art therapy'
9Indonesian students advise Korean bank on entering Indonesian market Indonesian students advise Korean bank on entering Indonesian market
10Korea to start mass production of KF-21 in 2024 Korea to start mass production of KF-21 in 2024
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Revenge rises as key theme in K-dramas Revenge rises as key theme in K-dramas
2Jeon Jong-seo discusses her first Hollywood role in 'Mona Lisa and Blood Moon' Jeon Jong-seo discusses her first Hollywood role in 'Mona Lisa and Blood Moon'
3SF9's Jaeyoon starts mandatory military service SF9's Jaeyoon starts mandatory military service
4Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him
5Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group