Progress on North Korea's denuclearization can never be expected if Pyongyang's provocative remarks and broken promises are quietly condoned.
A move by U.S. President Donald Trump can be seen as an indication of a fierce tug-of-war to avoid a breakdown in direct talks with Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, and urge him to respond sincerely in advance.
Trump has informed North Korea that the U.S.-North Korea summit, which was scheduled for June 12, will not take place.
Trump said he feels it is inappropriate to hold the meeting, citing "anger" and "hostility" displayed in North Korea's recent statements as reasons for the cancellation.
Needless provocations
On the other hand, Trump has left some room for the rescheduling of the summit, saying that if the North Korean leader "chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting." Trump has also mentioned the possibility of holding the summit as initially scheduled.
The North Korean side is to blame for causing turmoil over the summit.
Although Kim had said he would tolerate joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea, a senior North Korean government official recently expressed opposition to the military drills. Pyongyang canceled high-level inter-Korean talks, citing the drills as the reason, and said that if Washington unilaterally forces it to dismantle its nuclear development program, holding the summit would be "reconsider[ed]."
North Korean senior government officials did not show up at preparatory talks with the United States, which were supposed to be held in Singapore.
In a statement released Thursday, Choe Son Hui, North Korean vice foreign minister, described her country as a "nuclear weapon state" and even referred to the possibility of a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown" with the United States. Choe named and hurled abuse at U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who did not rule out a military option for North Korea, calling him a "dummy."
As a result of its tactic of trying to rattle the United States in a bid to take control of the bilateral talks, North Korea drew a greater backlash from Trump than anticipated. Pyongyang apparently overestimated its tactic of brinkmanship, which it has used as a common maneuver.
Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's first vice foreign minister, released a press statement in an unusually quick response, calling Trump's sudden announcement to cancel the summit "unexpected" and saying North Korea feels "great regret." This reaction indicates the cancellation had a great impact on Pyongyang.
In the statement, the first vice foreign minister stressed with subdued criticism of the United States, "We have the intent to sit with the U.S. side to solve [the] problem regardless of ways at any time." North Korea is apparently trying to repair the bilateral ties.
On Thursday, North Korea conducted work to dismantle a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, the country's northeast. It exploded tunnel entrances and related facilities and allowed a group of reporters to witness the demolition. However, experts such as ones from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were not invited.
China, ROK tested
As for a total of six nuclear tests conducted by North Korea, many points remain unclear about such things as the kind of nuclear materials used and the scale of the detonations. To elucidate the real situation of nuclear development, on-site inspections by specialized organizations are indispensable. Given the absence of nuclear experts, there is no alternative but to doubt how serious the North is in tackling denuclearization.
While the United States calls for prioritizing "complete, verifiable and irreversible" nuclear dismantlement, the North insists on "phased" and "synchronized" measures. Pyongyang aims to obtain returns such as economic assistance, regime security and reduction of the U.S. military threat, every time it plays the card of "phased" denuclearization.
Unless this gap between their positions is bridged, it will be difficult to expect results at a Trump-Kim summit.
To urge Kim to decide on dismantlement of his country's nuclear program and put the move toward a solution via dialogue on track, the international community must maintain maximum pressure on the North.
Referring to Trump's decision to call off the planned summit with Kim, South Korean President Moon Jae In said, "I am very perplexed and it is regrettable." Moon called on Washington and Pyongyang to make mutual concessions.
That Moon has played a bridging role between the two countries is laudable. But there is no denying that his excessive tilt toward a conciliatory mood since the inter-Korean summit in April has led to the North pursuing a diplomacy of threats.
Early this month, a South Korea-registered tanker was confirmed to be alongside a North Korean ship on the high seas. It is suspected that the two vessels were engaged in a "ship-to-ship transfer" to smuggle on the sea. Seoul needs to check anew whether there is any open seam in the international encirclement of Pyongyang.
China, the biggest trading partner of the North, bears a heavy responsibility in this regard. Chinese President Xi Jinping is called on to persistently continue persuasion efforts toward Kim Jong Un without relaxing sanctions against the North.
Risky diplomacy
It is worrying that there is a strong impression that Trump made decisions without due deliberations on both occasions -- when he accepted in March a North Korean offer to hold a summit with Kim and when he called off the summit recently. It is obvious that it will take a certain amount of time to dissolve long years of distrust between Washington and Pyongyang.
A process in which the U.S. president comes forward to resolve the issue has breakthrough potential but remains risky. Fruitful negotiations cannot proceed without an accumulation of working-level contacts. There is concern that Trump, who lacks diplomatic experience, will be overwhelmed by emotion and thus unnecessarily heighten tensions with the North.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "To change North Korea's policy, Japan will deal [with the North Korean issues] firmly in collaboration with the United States and South Korea." It is essential to bolster policy coordination among Tokyo, Washington and Seoul.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 26, 2018)
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