김동현 일민국제관계연구원 방문학자
Donald Trump does it again. He raises the possibility of resuscitating stalled denuclearization. Since Trump said he had received another "beautiful letter" from Kim Jong-un on June 11, he has spoken in favor of Kim on a few more subsequent occasions. He is still seeking a nuclear deal, although in "no rush" and keeping sanctions on.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, advocating for North Korea's denuclearization through dialogue and trust while traveling across Northern Europe, said Washington shared the general content of Kim's letter with him that contained "an interesting part." Moon is still waiting for Kim's response to his request for a fourth summit before Trump's scheduled visit to Seoul at the end of the month.
On June 12, CNN reported the letter contained no substance on the stalled nuclear negotiation: it was "a birthday greeting" for Trump whose birthday was last Friday. Back on April 12, Kim was venting his discontent over the failed Hanoi summit, but saying his relationship with Trump was good as to send letters of greeting and wishes for good health.
After Kim did it, Trump volunteered to comment on the Wall Street Journal's recent report that Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong-un, who was murdered in Malaysia, had been a paid CIA informant, "I wouldn't let that happen under my auspices." He also said, "We have a very good relationship together…I think that something will happen that's gonna be very positive."
On June 14, Trump spoke to Fox News of his cozy relations with Kim again, repeating that he is in no rush to denuclearize North Korea. When asked about Pyongyang's violations of sanctions, he said, "Everybody tries to break sanctions." He added he is imposing sanctions that hurt the North.
Something is happening in Washington along with Trump's cuddling of Kim Jong-un. John Bolton now says Washington is ready to hold a third summit, if Pyongyang is ready. The state department says the U.S. diplomats are ready to engage the North at the working level.
Stephen Biegun, U.S. nuclear envoy, is preparing for working-level talks with a North Korean counterpart to be determined if or when Pyongyang is ready. His counterpart may well not be Choi Son-hui, first vice foreign minister, whom the North must think is higher in rank than the U.S. representative. Kim Hyok-chol, who was reported to have been executed for the failure at Hanoi, might reappear to meet with Biegun again, to revive working-level talks and to disprove the reports of his execution.
The Washington Post on June 13 portrayed the difference between the state department and the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House with regard to how to respond to the North's launches of short-range missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions.
According to the Post article by Josh Rogin, NSC officials advocated bringing the issue to the U.N. Security Council, while the state department advised Trump "not to overreact, fearing that would play into Kim's hands." He even wrote, "the intelligence showed that the North Koreans were angry" after Trump publicly played down their missile launches, presumably because "their retaliatory provocation was foiled." This part sounds a bit like a stretch of imagination.
Until Kim's birthday letter to Trump, North Korea had not responded to repeated U.S. or South Korean attempts to revive diplomatic contacts, shutting down normal lines of communication. Pyongyang kept demanding the U.S. change "its impractical position and drop its hostile policy." The North unusually skipped two "track-two" conferences in June, one in Mongolia and one in Hong Kong.
However, last week Kim sent his sister to Panmunjeom to convey a letter of condolence and flowers in memory of the late Lee Hee-ho, widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, to mourn her passing. Madam Lee has been loved and respected by Koreans for her lifetime devotion to women's rights, democracy and peaceful inter-Korean relations. She left her will: "I will pray from heaven for the nation and peaceful unification."
There is one good thing that the United States and North Korea can do together now. They can agree to resuscitate the suspended nuclear talks, starting at the working level and let them discuss all the issues left off at Hanoi, based on the June 12 Singapore Agreement ― to re-explore all issues from a comprehensive road map to phased implementation of reciprocal measures.
When a third summit takes place, it should not be to negotiate the details. It should be a joint event to approve and adopt agreements reached below the summit level, with a possible exception or two that the working-level talks would not have been able to resolve.
[The Korea Times, 2019-06-17]
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/06/137_270743.html