The presidential office gave a press briefing about a video conference that top national security officers of Korea, the United States and Japan had Thursday.
In it, there was one discrepancy that contradicts what has been happening, raising a question about over-spin by Cheong Wa Dae.
Yoon Young-chan, chief press secretary for President Moon Jae-in _ now vacationing _ told reporters, “The three countries agreed that it is still possible to have dialogue with North Korea under the right conditions.”
This doesn’t jibe with what the United States has been saying through its key security officials. As a matter of fact H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser who participated in the tripartite consultations, sent a stern warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un only hours ago over his missile and nuclear development programs.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence left no room for doubt, when he said that there was no talking with the North. The only conciliatory message that hit the same note as the presidential office’s was given by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said a day earlier that Washington was still open to dialogue with Pyongyang.
But Tillerson’s spokesmen went out to retract their boss’s for-dialogue message. It was said that the former Exxon Mobil chairman was out of the loop and on his way out. Tillerson’s message ran counter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who said the day before that she wouldn’t bother to ask China and Russia to cooperate in the U.N. and toughen sanctions against the North. The previous such attempt was thwarted by the two countries’ rejection of the U.S. effort.
Also U.S. President Donald Trump just signed sanctions acts on three countries _ the North, Iran and Russia. Trump was said to have talked about going to war with the North. In other words, the U.S. has been adopting an ultra-hard line policy against the North.
So the possibilities are: 1) McMaster deviated from Trump policy 2) The U.S. allowed Seoul to play good cop, while assuming the role of bad cop 3) Cheong Wa Dae cherry-picked from the consultations and put in an extra positive spin.
Yoon used the usual qualifier “under the right conditions” in the briefing but still the mood has turned quite hawkish, reducing its contextual significance to a minimum.
Then, there was a strong domestic political motivation for the presidential office to keep the hopes of dialogue alive. President Moon’s proposal for talks with the North has been battered by conservative media as Pyongyang keeps ignoring it. There are rising calls for Moon to drop what critics argue is a naïve approach and join forces with the U.S.
His effort could be laudable, if untimely. For now, the President had better keep his dialogue initiative sheathed. And, his spin doctors should refrain from over-spinning.