Moon-Kim summit is 'right first step'
By Lee Suh-yoon
Robert Gallucci, chief negotiator during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis
A renowned expert on North Korea has praised the recent inter-Korean summit, calling the historic meeting between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the “right first step” toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Robert Gallucci, chief negotiator during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis, said the recent inter-Korean summit was a positive step towards denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula.
“Although other questions such as missiles, chemical weapons and human rights still remain, I think we made the right first step,” Robert Gallucci, chief negotiator during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis, said during the Korea Forum 2018 co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo, Thursday.
He pointed out that the two Koreas' peace resolution and initiative were the key factors behind the recent thaw in inter-Korean relations.
“What was most amazing was seeing Koreans being on the center stage and leading in defining the direction this is going,” he said. “I would nominate President Moon Jae-in for the Nobel Peace Prize. When he met with President Trump in Seoul and prepared for the Olympics, he really showed some exquisite diplomatic maneuvering.”
Other experts and scholars on the discussion panel with Gallucci during the forum credited Trump for the recent progress on the peninsula.
“Strong and effective pressure on North Korea became possible only after Trump really pressed China to cooperate with economic sanctions against North Korea,” said Professor Yoon Young-kwan, the former minister of foreign affairs during the former President Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Gallucci added there were lessons to be taken from the agreed framework of 1994, which collapsed in the autumn of 2002.
“We learned we have to be very precise,” he said. “The process of denuclearization should begin with a declaration where the North describes how many nuclear weapons it has, how much fissile material it has, and actual weight in kilograms and grams of plutonium and highly enriched uranium.”
While pointing out that there were good models from the Gulf War and Iran for how to conduct rigorous inspections in the denuclearization process, Gallucci also admitted that complete denuclearization of North Korea is unrealistic.
“But we also have to be clear that the task in front of us is much different from that of 1994,” he said, underlining that only declared nuclear weapons can be monitored. “North Korea will forever be a state which has nuclear weapons or fissile materials.”
The expert also added that North Korea's intentions should still be verified in the upcoming negotiations. The most hoped-for scenario, according to Gallucci, was that North Koreans developed inter-continental ballistic missiles not to intimidate anyone, but to secure a strong position at the negotiation table with the U.S.
“That's what we're hoping, but this is a matter of testing North Korea's intent,” he said.