I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Flurry of diplomacy underway after inter-Korean relations hit snag
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea and China will hold talks Thursday, days after North Korea made public secret inter-Korean contacts in Beijing.
The North’s disclosure of every detail of South Korea’s alleged proposal has put inter-Korean relations on shakier grounds.
Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, will head to China today for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei.
In a statement released Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Wi and Wu will exchange views on inter-Korean relations, North Korea and regional security.
The South Korean envoy will return to Seoul Thursday a day before Kurt Campbell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, are slated to visit Seoul.
Campbell will visit Seoul after travelling to China, Mongolia and Indonesia, the foreign ministry said.
Grigory Logvinov， Russia's deputy envoy to the six-party talks, will also visit Seoul on Thursday.
The flurry of North Korea diplomacy comes at a time when South-North relations face an impasse after the North disclosed details of the secret inter-Korean contact in Beijing.
On June 1, North Korea said South Korea proposed an inter-Korean summit but it turned the proposal down.
A spokesman of the North’s National Defense Commission said Pyongyang turned the proposal down because Seoul lied about the summit offer. Seoul also repeatedly demanded an apology for the sinking of the warship Cheonan and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last year.
In an interview aired by the North’s state-run Korean Central Television, North Korea said South Korean officials even offered cash. “Seoul begged us,” the North said.
“They said they planned to hold the first summit in late June in the truce village of Panmunjeom and the second two months later in Pyongyang and the last one in March during the Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul next year,” it said.
The North’s sudden disclosure came shortly after the China-North Korea summit in Beijing.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly didn’t mention the secret contact with the South during the summit, whereas South Korea informed China of the inter-Korean exchanges.
After making the statement, North Korea stepped up hostile rhetoric against the South.