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| Chung Eui-yong, right, the nominee for foreign minister, talks with then-U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 11, 2019. / Korea Times file |
By Kang Seung-woo
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is exploring ways to invite former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify at a confirmation hearing of Foreign Minister nominee Chung Eui-yong next month.
Should Bolton attend the hearing, which is slated for Feb. 5 and will be held virtually, he is likely to be questioned about Chung's role in arranging summits between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which the American harshly denounced as a "strategic mistake."
Chung was President Moon Jae-in's national security advisor when the summits were held. He was also a special envoy to Pyongyang before the summits.
Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the PPP said, Tuesday, he had asked whether Bolton would participate in the hearing.
"Chung has been involved in the process of summits between South and North Korea and between the United States and North Korea, so we want to hear from Bolton about discussions between them about the summits," Kim said.
Chung and Bolton have hard feelings about each other due to the former U.S. official's memoir, published last June, about his 17-month tenure at the White House.
In the book, Bolton claimed the U.S.-North summit in Singapore in June 2018 was the brainchild of Chung and not the North Korean leader. Chung strongly struck back at his former counterpart, saying a considerable portion of the book was distorted. In addition, Bolton repeatedly recounted sensitive diplomatic discussions with Chung on Pyongyang.
Denouncing the memoir as a violation of the basic principle of diplomacy, Chung also urged the U.S. government at the time to take appropriate measures to prevent such a dangerous case from recurring.
Bolton's testimony before the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, however, is highly unlikely.
"It would be great if he testifies, but there is little chance of it actually happening as it is unprecedented that a former foreign government official participates in a parliamentary hearing and testifies," a PPP official said.
In addition, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is likely to refuse to invite Bolton. A parliamentary committee cannot summon a witness if more than half of its members object.
The PPP is preparing a Plan B by emailing questions to Bolton.
"We are also considering asking questions to him about parts of his book regarding the summit and making his reply public at the hearing," Kim said.
Earlier this month, President Moon nominated Chung to replace Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in an apparent bid to push his Korean Peninsula "peace process," which has been deadlocked since the failure of the Hanoi summit between the North and the U.S. in February 2019. Chung is the architect of the peace initiative.
