Bolton blamed for deal breakdown: ex-minister

Former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun speaks during a seminar at the National Assembly, Tuesday, on the second summit between North Korea and the U.S. and prospects for inter-Korean economic cooperation. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun claimed Tuesday that the abrupt ending of the summit in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "intentional" and engineered by National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Calling Bolton a "big hurdle" with regard to issues related to the Korean Peninsula, Jeong alleged the security adviser persuaded Trump to walk away from the talks with Kim.

"Bolton, a North Korea hawk, reminds me of a white cavalry leader in an old Western movie who doesn't feel guilty about killing Native Americans," Jeong said while meeting with lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). "I believe the breakdown was intentionally brought about by the U.S. side, and Bolton was the villain in this."

Jeong said Bolton caused problems in Hanoi by mentioning other nuclear facilities in the North apart from Yongbyon during negotiations with North Korean officials, and as a result discussing sanctions relief was impossible.

"It seems to me that the North's proposals were the resumption of tour programs to Mount Geumgang and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and connecting the railways and roads between the two Koreas. But these were not accepted by the U.S.," he said.

Jeong also said the last-minute breakdown of the summit could be partly attributed to domestic politics in the U.S. ― testimony before Congress from Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen is painting an overwhelmingly negative picture of him.

Jeong urged the Moon Jae-in government to resume talks with North Korea as quickly as possible before having talks with the U.S. to mediate the stalled dialogue.

"The U.S. is likely asking Moon to play a part in mediating talks. Its message is if Moon suggests they meet with the North, the U.S. will do so."

"Moon can hear what North Korean officials such as Kim Hyok-chol said to U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Panmunjeom. An inter-Korean summit should be held first and then South-U.S. talks and North-U.S. talks should follow. To do this, the government should move fast."

When it comes to economic cooperation between the two Koreas, he emphasized that unilateral economic aid is the only way to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and manage security risks.

Citing Germany's unification, he added "The South needs to make Pyongyang reliant on Seoul."

"Unification will not be realized if the North Korean economy becomes like that of the U.S. or Japan or belongs to China. The two Koreas are economically in need of each other. When North Korea relies on South Korea, tensions between the two will be eased and they can form a political community for unification."

He added that money from Japan, the U.S. and China will still flow into the North, but it was necessary for the South to take the lead.

He urged the ruling camp to actively support Moon's policies on economic cooperation with the North.

Recalling his memories of the U.S., he said South Korea's U.S. preference is deeply rooted in inter-Korean relations.

"I watched Western movies a lot. I really liked Americans. In the movies, when characters killed Native Americans, I clapped as I thought they were killing bad guys. The food the U.S. gave us made us like the country and it still defines our relations with Washington," Jeong said.

He added that from his point of view, the North wants to denuclearize during Trump's first term.

"It might be hard for Pyongyang to open diplomatic relations with the U.S., but it will be possible for it to denuclearize because North Korea is the party that decides on this," he said.

"For Trump, signing the deal is good for his re-election campaign. But for Kim, it is a matter of life or death."

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