hankyoreh

Gangwon Province on Feb. 9.

North Korean Supreme People’s Council Presidium president Kim Yong-nam and Workers’ Party Central Committee first vice director Kim Yo-jong arrived in South Korea on Feb. 9 via Kim Jong-un’s private jet as part of a high-ranking delegation from Pyongyang. They attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and were scheduled to have lunch on Feb. 10 with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The two of them – especially Kim Yo-jong, who is the younger sister of leader Kim Jong-un – are the highest-level messengers North Korea could have sent. Their meeting with President Moon is an indirect summit of sorts. It stands to reason that so much attention would focus on any written or spoken message from the North Korean leader.

The sincerity and enthusiasm of Pyongyang’s approach to dialogue can be seen in the downplaying of its recent armed forces anniversary military parade. The South Korean government, for its part, has taken on the diplomatic burden of doing whatever it can to secure exemptions from international sanctions. Given all the pains that were taken to establish this meeting, it needs to be about something more than ceremonial greetings and bland pleasantries. If the participants can open up and speak seriously and frankly, we may see progress that defies expectations.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shares a toast with North Korean Supreme People’s Council Presidium president Kim Yong-nam during a reception at the Blisshill Stay at Yongpyong Resort in Pyeongchang County

Hopefully, the “indirect summit” at the Feb. 10 luncheon meeting between the South and North Korean leaders will serve as a milestone in achieving a turnaround in Korean Peninsula issues. For that to happen, they will need to approach it proactively, with a willingness to hold serious and broad-ranging dialogue. Neither side can afford to hesitate when it comes to bold, forward-thinking, “generous” dialogue.

There should be no matters that are off the table for discussion – including the possibility of a genuine inter-Korean summit or the dispatching of a special envoy to the North. Hopefully, this will be a significant occasion that ushers us to another level of progress in inter-Korean relations.

If we intend to deal with the essence of the Korean Peninsula crisis, we cannot go on forever avoiding the nuclear issue. Dialogue and negotiations between North Korea and the US are essential if a fundamental resolution to the nuclear and missile issues is to be achieved. In that sense, the meeting between Moon and the North Korean delegation members is going to have to afford some kind of starting point toward discussions between Pyongyang and Washington.

They may not be able to achieve an instant solution to the nuclear and missile issues, but it will be important for them to work together on the understanding that this is the ultimate direction they need to go.

The chill winds of an exceptionally cold winter are coming to an end. The entire Korean nation is hoping for spring to come and bring the peninsula out of its deep freeze. Here’s hoping these senior inter-Korean officials will be the messengers for a warmer spring once the Pyeongchang Olympics are behind us.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]