By Kang Seung-woo
Members of the National Assembly have called on President Park Geun-hye to visit Moscow in May in the hope of meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Russia will celebrate its part in the victory over Germany in World War II that month, inviting leaders from around the world to join. The United States is staying away because of Russia’s armed intervention in Ukraine, and has hinted that Park should not attend either.
“Should Kim Jong-un go to Russia, President Park should go there, too,” said Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the ruling Saenuri Party, Wednesday.
“In order to improve inter-Korean relations, we need to convince the U.S. to understand South Korea’s situation.”
He added that Park has nothing to lose on a possible trip to Russia.
“There are various preconditions for an official summit, but the event is a multinational conference, so Park may meet Kim at no cost,” said Ha.
Rep. Shim Jae-kwon of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) said, “I, as well as a number of fellow lawmakers, believe that Park should go to improve inter-Korean relations as well as Seoul-Moscow relations.”
He stressed that whether Park goes to Russia or not is a matter that South Korea needs to autonomously decide on, not a matter the U.S. needs to argue about.
Pyongyang has yet to officially announce its leader’s visit, but the Kremlin said last month that the North Korean leader would be going to Moscow.
Lawmakers of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee also urged President Park to travel to Russia.
“Russia’s role is really important in the unification of the Korean Peninsula, but it has not been on good terms with the country,” Rep. Lee Jae-oh of the Saenuri Party said during the committee’s Tuesday meeting.
“Due to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, Western countries may not attend the celebration, but their absence is irrelevant to our decision,” Lee said.
Choung Byoung-gug, another Saenuri Party lawmaker, said that Park should take advantage of the opportunity to mend fences with the North.
“The Park trip to Russia could be a turning point in inter-Korean relations that have been frayed,” Choung said.
Rep. Kim Sung-gon of the NPAD said that there are expectations that President Park can meet the North Korean leader there and the meeting might pave the way for inter-Korean reconciliation.
“There is no rule that a summit between the South and North should be held on the peninsula,” he said.
A longtime North Korea analyst said that President Park may also be eager to visit Russia to break the deadlock with the North, but the absence of U.S. President Barack Obama is a sticking point for a possible Moscow trip.
A senior White House official said Monday that U.S. allies should join in the U.S.-led sanctions against Russia.
“In terms of our allies around the world, I think the key point we’ve made is that it’s important for the world to speak with one voice on behalf of the principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the notion that bigger nations should not be able to bully smaller ones, to redraw maps,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Washington D.C.
He continued, “So it is important, I think, for all countries to be speaking with one voice on behalf of those international principles.
“There is a rule I think for every country to speak up for those basic principles.”
Seoul’s foreign ministry refrained from commenting on Rhodes remarks, saying, “Nothing has been fixed.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told lawmakers that the government needs to consider Park’s diplomatic schedule before deciding on her attendance.