US says nuclear deal 'still possible'
In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with North Korean defectors where he talked with reporters about allowing the release of a secret memo on the FBI's role in the Russia inquiry. AP-Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul, Yi Whan-woo
Despite North Korea's decision to launch what appeared to be short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast on the weekend, officials in the United States and political analysts have ruled out the possibility that this could end Washington's joint diplomatic efforts to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.
Cheong Wa Dae said Monday that it had no new information on the North's provocative action, such as the launch method or exact type of missiles used; while the U.S. is apparently reacting to the firing in a “thoughtful manner.”
Early Monday (KST), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the launches “didn't present a threat to the United States” and its allies, nor will it derail the Trump administration's attempts to reach a denuclearization deal.
“We still believe there is a path forward where Chairman Kim can denuclearize without resort to anything beyond diplomacy,” Pompeo said. He added the missiles were short-range and therefore didn't violate the agreed-upon moratorium on launches. The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator added the moratorium only concerned intercontinental missiles.
“At no point was there every any international boundary crossed. They landed in the water east of North Korea and didn't present a threat to the United States or to South Korea or Japan. We still believe that there's an opportunity to get a negotiated outcome where we get fully verified denuclearization,” Pomepo said on ABC's This Week.
The remarks were interpreted as Washington's willingness to pursue its updated version of “strategic patience” in resolving the nuclear issue by standing together with Seoul and Tokyo, according to analysts.
“Instead of matching North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's aggressive moves, Trump is showing restraint and he won't get baited in any way. Trump is trying to reassure Kim that he is still willing and able to find a diplomatic solution to the dispute over denuclearization,” said Harry J. Kazianis, director of Korean Studies at the U.S. Center for the National Interest.
The senior analyst added North Korea has been asking for security assurances and economic benefits and stressed for Washington to use President Moon Jae-in “more effectively” given the unique position he holds in acting as not only a facilitator of talks, but as the only party both Washington and Pyongyang can trust.
A poster showing U.S. President Donald Trump and demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korea Peninsula is displayed on a street in Seoul, May 4. AP-Yonhap
U.S. special envoy Stephen Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul later this week for consultations with officials on ways to supply food, grain and other humanitarian-centered assistance to the impoverished North via international organizations. But Biegun is also expected to meet senior Cheong Wa Dae officials for talks about the impact of the launches on nuclear diplomacy.
While Cheong Wa Dae is taking a “low-key stance” toward the North's provocations in sync with the strategically articulated stance from Washington, North Korea experts in Seoul want the government to treat the incident more prudently for the sake of public trust.
“I do hope the government is deliberately delaying an announcement about the type of tactical guided weapon. But even if that is the case, it still shows our defense posture is vulnerable toward a possible North Korean attack. Keeping silent over tactical weapons will just make our government lose public trust,” said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University.
Kim Hyun-wook from the Korea National Diplomatic Academy responded that Pompeo's remarks were Washington's attempt to avoid any possible allegation that Pyongyang violated the United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban its ballistic missile activities.
“A successful operation of the Kill Chain will depend on how much we keep an eye on North Korea's military activities, regardless of the reconciliatory mood across the border,” Park said. Kill Chain is a system to carry out a pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile facilities if Seoul is faced with an imminent threat.
U.S. President Donald Trump has met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un twice, most recently in late February in Hanoi, Vietnam. They tried to broker a deal to permanently dismantle the North's nuclear stockpile, but the meeting ended with no result due to their failure to agree on the definition of denuclearization.