No rush to summit

By Na Jeong-ju

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics proved yet again that the power of sports can transcend politics.

North Korea’s participation, most of all, demonstrated the true Olympic values of peace and harmony. South Korea and the United States postponed their planned joint military drills to make room for North Korea, and it grabbed the opportunity. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent high-level delegations, including his top aide and only biological sister, Kim Yo-jong, to the South, and did not make any provocations during the Olympic period.

North Korean delegates largely received a warm welcome from their compatriots in the South. They behaved nicely while staying in the South, without causing any trouble.

On the other side, however, there were voices of concern and hatred toward the North Koreans throughout the Olympics. Many people still remain doubtful about the North’s real intention, believing that its peace offensive is only part of a new game plan against the world.

Even so, few will argue that the Olympics created a new momentum for dialogue.

President Moon Jae-in should get much credit for breaking the deadlock on the Korean Peninsula, which was unthinkable even a few months ago. Of course, this would not have been possible without serious efforts by all concerned parties, including China and Russia.

From a diplomatic point of view, Moon made the most of the Olympics to promote his ideas about regional peace by restoring communication channels with North Korea and setting the stage for much-needed dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington. He is probably changing the status quo over North Korea.

At this stage, we cannot help but ask two fundamental questions about North Korea: Is it really changing? Is it willing to discuss denuclearization? The U.S. needs to talk with North Korea first to answer the questions.

Although the peace with North Korea is only fragile, we saw encouraging signs from the Olympics that we can make North Korea change through peaceful efforts. From now on, we should shift the focus to keeping the momentum going by taking measures to rebuild trust.

This, however, does not mean we have to rush into peace talks with North Korea. Kim Yo-jong, while delivering her brother’s letter to President Moon at Cheong Wa Dae, added an invitation for Moon to meet her brother in Pyongyang at the earliest possible date.

The invitation set up the possibility for the third inter-Korea summit, following those in 2000 and 2007. When the last one was held between Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, Moon was Roh’s chief of staff.

Moon showed a cautious response to the North’s invitation to Pyongyang.

Speaking to reporters days after the meeting with Kim Yo-jong, Moon said thinking about a summit with the North Korean leader now was like “looking for hot rice water beside the well.” The Korean saying means everything should be done under the right conditions.

“Time is not ripe. It is a bit too rushed,” Moon said.

This could be embarrassing for the North Korean leader, but should rather be seen as an expression of Moon’s willingness to continue efforts to create the right conditions for a meeting with Kim.

What are the right conditions?

Presumably, the third inter-Korean summit would not be possible if there was no progress in dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea.

Pessimists argue that even if another summit is held, it will fail to change North Korea.

However, we should not give up efforts to resolve the North Korea issues peacefully. And face-to-face meetings between the leaders could be most effective in ending the confrontational policies and converting North Korea into a responsible member of the international community.