INTERVIEW 'Kim Jong-un should meet Moon before Trump'

Former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul on Dec. 19. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Kim Bo-eun

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un needs to get advice from President Moon Jae-in for negotiating with the United States ahead of his possible second summit U.S. President Donald Trump, former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said.

“Pyongyang is not so apt when it comes to reading between the lines in negotiations with Washington,” Jeong said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

“It should be advised by the South on how to proceed with talks by giving concessions such as reporting key nuclear facilities and allowing inspectors to check them.”

Jeong said Kim's visit to Seoul, if realized, will be a critical moment in moving the peace process forward.

Fortunately, Kim seems to be eager to visit Seoul soon. On Sunday, Cheong Wa Dae said Kim sent a letter to President Moon, expressing his strong willingness to discuss denuclearization with Moon in Seoul.

Jeong said Moon is in a position to mediate between Pyongyang and Washington.

“As a close ally of the U.S., the South would be able to coach the North on how to proceed with talks,” he said.

"President Moon was the one behind the historic first North Korea-U.S. summit. If the inter-Korean summit on May 26 was not held, the momentum for the summit between Kim and Trump would have died."

After the first summit, hopes abounded for a declaration to be made ending the Korean War, paving the way for peace and denuclearization to be achieved on the Korean Peninsula.

Yet progress on Pyongyang dismantling its nuclear program has been slow, due to discord with Washington on the first denuclearization steps that should be taken.

Denuclearization talks between the countries reached a deadlock after the last ministerial meeting in October and the North Korean leader did not make a visit to Seoul within the year as the South had hoped.

Amid such circumstances, attention is growing over when a second summit between Kim and Trump will take place.

Washington has stated hopes for the second summit between its leader and Kim to be held early this year.

However, this is likely to be pushed back, as much work is left to be done on laying the groundwork for a denuclearization deal.

“The first summit addressed what the agenda would be. It did not specify how the terms of the agreement would be achieved. This time, the summit needs to nail down how things would be done,” said Jeong, who served as the unification chief from 2002 to 2004 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

He said a ministerial-level meeting needs to go ahead.

“The meeting would have to draw up a roadmap of how denuclearization, new ties between Washington and Pyongyang and a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula would be sequenced,” he said.

This goes back to Jeong's claim that to make a breakthrough in the stalled process, the leaders of the Koreas need to meet, for Moon to play a mediating role and prompt Kim to alter his stance to bring progress in talks.

“Pyongyang is calling for sanctions to be eased while it doesn't offer its own measure that would make Washington move,” he said. “Meanwhile, the U.S. is expecting North Korea to take steps without any mention of corresponding measures.”

He said this is why U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol have been failing to hold their postponed meeting.

The former minister said the U.S. also needs to reach out further to North Korea, Sanctions would have to be partially alleviated to move the process forward, he said.

Peace treaty

Pyongyang consistently called for a declaration ending the 1950-53 Korean War to be made during the early stage of denuclearization talks this year.

The Koreas had aimed for the declaration to be made by the end of 2018. However, talks about ending the war have subsided.

"With the inter-Korean military accord, the South and North virtually ended the war. Removing guard posts and demilitarizing the joint security area are actual acts that aim to end war, not just words," he said.

Jeong said the Koreas could end the war with a peace treaty, without a separate declaration on ending the war.

“The declaration would be political in nature, but the armistice would be nullified when a peace treaty is made,” he said.

“When a peace treaty is made, the United Nations Command would have to pull out. Scaling down U.S. troops in the South would depend on how much arms and forces the North would reduce.”