Quad to focus on denuclearization of North Korea, not entire Korean Peninsula

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with the three other leaders from the Quad member countries ― Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, from the White House in Washington, D.C., Friday. AFP-Yonhap

Joint statement suggests Biden uninterested in Singapore agreement

By Yi Whan-woo

The leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India have vowed to focus on denuclearization of North Korea in a joint statement after their first summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or "Quad," held online, Friday.

The pledge narrows down the focus of denuclearization from the entire Korean Peninsula as stipulated in an agreement reached between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their 2018 summit in Singapore, to just the North.

The North is mentioned once in the five-point statement, which reads, "We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees."

Noting the security coalition of the four nations, regarded as anti-China alliance, is led by the U.S., analysts said Sunday the joint statement hints that U.S. President Joe Biden is not heavily interested in implementing the Singapore summit agreement.

This also suggests a potential rift between the U.S. and South Korea over North Korea policy.

The Moon Jae-in administration wants to create a favorable environment for the North to bring it back on table for nuclear negotiations and to formally end the Korean War.

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But the North can refuse to talk if the U.S. insists on the denuclearization of North Korea solely, rather than the whole peninsula, because it leaves room for the U.S. to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the South as feared by the Kim regime.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, second from right, speaks during the virtual summit of the leaders of the Quad from his official residence in Tokyo, Friday. AP-Yonhap

"I don't see any gestures of extending a hand to the North in the joint statement," said Park Won-gon, a North Korea studies professor at Ewha Womans University.

He pointed out the Quad Leaders' Joint Statement ― "The Spirit of the Quad" ― does not bring up peace and prosperity in relation to the peninsula.

"This means a difference between South Korea and the U.S. in denuclearization roadmap. How to coordinate their North Korea policy will be a challenge for the allies," Park said.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said Washington may be testing Pyongyang's level of willingness to fulfill the U.N. sanction against development of nuclear weapons.

Although the North suspended nuclear tests and test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), it is believed to have accelerated miniaturizing nuclear warheads that are mounted on ICBMs.

Yang viewed the Quad statement pushes China to exercise leverage on North Korea, considering the Quad is an alliance to rein in China in the Indo-Pacific region.

"The Quad leaders must have taken into account China will go over the statement. Given this, the denuclearization of North Korea can be seen as not just a message to Kim but also to Chinese President Xi Jinping," the professor said.

The statement left a question on why it did not directly mention China in any of its five points, while implicitly addressing issues concerning the Washington-Beijing row.

They range from the South China Sea dispute to concerns over Chinese espionage related to 5G technology.

"I would disagree with any argument that the statement failed to mention China. Rather, it criticizes China in a mild, implicit manner from the beginning to the end." Park said.

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