[Editorial] The importance of Moon’s remarks about behind-the-scenes dialogue for 3rd NK-US summit

Posted on : 2019-06-27 17:03 KST Modified on : 2019-06-27 17:03 KST
South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes a speech about the Korean Peninsula peace process at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on June 14.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes a speech about the Korean Peninsula peace process at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on June 14.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shared his detailed assessment and vision for North Korea-US relations and inter-Korean relations ahead of his trip to attend the G20 Summit. In a joint written interview with Yonhap News and six global news agencies on June 26, he said that dialogue was taking place toward a third North Korea-US summit. He also gave concrete guidelines for an “irreversible phase” of North Korean denuclearization. The next question is what role Moon’s vision will play in North Korea and the US breaking out of the current impasse in their denuclearization talks and achieving new progress.

The most attention-grabbing part of Moon’s interview was its reference to behind-the-scenes dialogue taking place between Pyongyang and Washington over a third bilateral summit. The only meaningful communication that has been noted between North Korea and the US since their Hanoi summit collapsed has been an exchange of personal letters between their leaders. But Moon’s remarks arguably confirm that dialogue is happening between the two sides behind the scenes toward a third summit. This is a positive signal that shows the potential for North Korea-US talks to move past their stalemate and enter a new stage.

Also noteworthy is Moon’s suggestion that the complete abandonment of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities and verification thereof is an “irreversible phase” of denuclearization. These remarks are especially meaningful as his first-ever explicit reference to an “irreversible denuclearization phase.” It’s also worth noting his proposal of a tradeoff between sanctions relief and complete dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities. Pyongyang appears quite likely to agree to Moon’s idea, as it more or less echoes the plan for complete dismantlement of the Yongbyon facilities in exchange for sanctions relief in livelihood-related areas that North Korea proposed at the Hanoi summit in February. The key question is going to be the extent to which Moon’s suggestion accords with the US’ position. If his remarks were coordinated ahead of time with Washington, that means the odds of a third summit happening quickly are that much greater.

Also notable is Moon’s reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea last week as having taken place at South Korea’s suggestion. While concerns have been voiced from some corners that the North Korea-China summit will complicate the denuclearization talks, it should rightly be seen as helping the North Korea-US talks if it happened amid communication with Seoul. The important thing is that the vision shared by Moon yields concrete results. We look forward to the South Korea-US summit on June 30 resulting in some headway in the North Korea-US denuclearization talks and a historic turning point toward a third North Korea-US summit.

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