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Then First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan attends an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing on Sept. 18, 2018. (Hankyoreh archives)
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Statement criticizes Washington for failing to live up to Singapore summit agreements
On Sept. 27, three days after a South Korea-US summit in New York, a North Korean official said that “President Trump is different from his predecessors in political sense and decision” and voiced his hope for “President Trump's wise option and bold decision.” The statement by Kim Kye-gwan, advisor for the North Korean Foreign Ministry, expressed a blend of hope and pressure. “No practical follow-up was made to implement the issues agreed upon at the [North Korea-US] summit talks [in Singapore], casting a shadow over the possibility of future summit talks,” Kim said referring to the possibility of a third summit. At the same time, Kim said that he “and the DPRK Foreign Ministry will follow the future moves of the US” in the statement, which was released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). In effect, the statement calls on Trump — who reaffirmed the validity of the “spirit of the Singapore agreement” in his New York summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sept. 23 — to put his words into action. In the statement, Kim referred to North Korea’s “repatriation of American detainees, who committed hostile acts against the DPRK, and of GIs' remains [from the Korean War],” which he said was intended to “build trust and implement the DPRK-US joint statement.” The US, he said, has “resumed the joint military drills [with South Korea], which the U.S. president personally pledged to suspend, and has ratcheted up sanctions and pressure on the DPRK only to make the DPRK-US relations degenerate.” This echoed a previous statement on Sept. 16 by the director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s US affairs bureau, who said one of the agenda items for negotiations would be the removal of “threats and hurdles endangering our system security.” In effect, it presented a halt of joint military exercises as a primary measure to guarantee security, and sanctions relief and removal as a key measure to remove “obstacles to advancement.” In his statement, Kim said, “It is hard reality that politicians in Washington are obsessed with ‘nuclear disarmament-first’ assertion [. . .] and with twisted view regarding that sanctions led the DPRK to dialogue.” “This makes me doubt whether a new breakthrough could be brought about in the DPRK-US relations though another DPRK-US summit talks may open,” he continued. At the same time, Kim put a strong emphasis on the idea of “build[ing] trust,” perhaps in consideration of the June 12 Singapore Joint Statement’s reference to “recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” In short, the statement referred to Pyongyang’s preference for an agenda including the suspension of South Korea-US military exercise and, sanctions lifting and removal, and for an approach to negotiations that involves a step-by-step solution based on trust-building rather than corresponding measures to come after denuclearization, or a comprehensive agreement with the final goal of denuclearization. Flexing muscles ahead of pending resumption of working-level talks Kim’s statement comes across strongly as a North Korea flexing its muscles ahead of the working-level talks, which are poised to be a test for the possibility of a third North Korea-US summit. At a press conference in New York on Sept. 26, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Our team’s prepared to meet with [North Korea],” but added that he did not “have [a place and time] in hand yet.” Kim’s statement was the fourth to come from the North Korean Foreign Ministry in 18 days ahead of the North Korea-US negotiations, coming after a Sept. 9 statement by First Vice Minister Choe Son-hui, the Sept. 16 statement by the US affairs bureau director, and a Sept. 20 statement by Kim Myong-gil, head of the North Korean delegation in their working-level talks with the US. The trend appears unusual – hinting at a lack of confidence or hesitation about the likelihood of translating working-level talks with the US into a third summit. The messages suggest that Pyongyang has yet to fully recover from its shock at the collapse of the second summit in Hanoi, while judging Trump’s signals as carrying little substance between generalities. They also appear designed to make a case back home, asserting that Pyongyang will “not make a deal easily” as it prepares for full-scale negotiations with the US. A South Korean government official said the attitude appeared “influenced by [North Korea] not having determined whether or when Chairman Kim Jong-un will be visiting China for the 70th anniversary of relations [on Oct. 6]” – suggesting that once Kim decides on his China visit schedule, the schedule for the North Korea-US working-level talks will be decided around that. Appearing before the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on Sept. 24, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon reportedly said the agency was “focusing on the possibility of Kim visiting China around Oct. 6” but explained there had been no specific activity detected ahead of the visit. By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
