Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
North Korea, US nuclear talks carefully in the making: Prime Minister
By Lee Min-hyung
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon
By Lee Min-hyung
The United States and North Korea remain “very serious and careful” before restarting their nuclear dialogue in order to avoid repeating the failure of their summit in Hanoi, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said.
“Washington and Pyongyang are walking on eggshells around each other even at the stage of preparations for the working-level talks in consideration of their experience with the Hanoi summit,” Lee told lawmakers at a National Assembly interpellation session, Friday.
“The South Korean government expects the possible upcoming summit between Trump and Kim to become a meaningful step for the North's complete denuclearization.”
The remark comes amid an air of expectation for resumption of nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang, with both sides reaffirming their determination to break the impasse in the nuclear disarmament talks in the next few weeks.
By Friday, no specific timelines or locations for the upcoming working-level talks have been confirmed.
Another summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be a stepping stone for the North's complete denuclearization, but the potential meeting, in itself, is not a cure-all for denuclearization, according to Lee.
Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young, who also attended the session, told lawmakers the United States was sending messages both indirectly and unofficially to South Korea to mend the souring ties between South Korea and Japan as early as possible.
“Washington told Seoul that it will take a proper role as its intervention would be helpful in terms of resolving Seoul-Tokyo friction,” Cho said.
The interpellation session focused on the Moon administration's security and foreign policy drives. Also in attendance were Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul and Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo. Cho joined the meeting on behalf of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha who is in New York during this year's United Nations General Assembly.
Defense Minister Jeong downplayed the significance of North Korea's latest missile launches saying the provocations weren't a “direct threat” to South Korea. “I can't say the North's recent missile launches are a direct threat to South Korea as the provocations had no impact on us,” Jeong told lawmakers.
But he refrained from commenting on whether the recent launches violated a military agreement signed between President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un under which the two Koreas vowed to end provocations.
PM Lee also shrugged off the possibility of the South's nuclear armament to counter potential threats from the North. Earlier this month, Washington's nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun raised the scenario.
“We interpret Biegun's remark (over the scenario) as a message to urge the North's denuclearization, which is not an official stance from the U.S. government.”
PM Lee also said South Korea is making progress in the nuclear talks with the North and stressed the two Koreas and the United States share a common end goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Early in the day, North Korea expressed its anticipation for the possibly upcoming summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un.
“President Trump has determination and political sense unlike his predecessors when it comes to his approach to North Korea,” the North's foreign ministry adviser Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement. He was a former first vice minister of the North's foreign authority last year before Choe Son-hui replaced him.
But the former ranking diplomat also demanded Washington shift its nuclear strategy to seek a “new breakthrough” in their talks and relations. “I cannot help but remain skeptical of whether another potential summit between the North and the U.S. will help create a breakthrough in bilateral relations,” he said.