hankyoreh

Kim Gi-jeong

The administration of South Korean president Moon Jae-in is moving ahead with its foreign policy. During phone calls with the leaders of the US, China and Japan just two days after his inauguration, Moon exchanged views for the first time on the issues of the North Korean nuclear issue, THAAD and the comfort women, respectively. On the afternoon of May 11, the Hankyoreh interviewed Kim Gi-jeong, director of the School of Public Administration at Yonsei University. During the interview with Kim, who has been called the brains behind Moon’s diplomacy and security policy, the Hankyoreh asked about the new administration’s strategy on these issues.
“If there’s a request to change the South Korea-US alliance, the alliance must be readjusted accordingly. Doing whatever the US wants is a one-sided relationship under the guise of an alliance. We’ll do what’s in the national interest,” Kim said. He described himself as the “facilitator” for treating inter-Korean relations as the impetus for South Korea taking charge of its own destiny and securing the cooperation of its neighbors. Read on for the interview with Kim.

Hankyoreh (Hani): What do you make of the explanation of Moon’s diplomacy and security views that you made on your visit to the US in February?

Kim Gi-jeong (Kim): A lot of people wondered whether Moon was anti-American. I explained that he believes that the South Korea-US alliance is the linchpin of South Korean security and that it brings stability to Northeast Asia and to the Korean Peninsula.

director of the School of Public Administration at Yonsei University

Hani: With Trump asking South Korea to pay the cost of THAAD, some people are talking about a readjustment of the alliance.

Kim: I think the request for a change in the alliance will come from Washington. It needs to be readjusted. Not readjusting it and doing whatever the US wants is a one-sided relationship under the guise of an alliance.

Hani: That’s what happened during the nine years of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations (2008-16).

Kim: I’m not going to comment on that (laughing). Allies are friends, so you have to be able to say “no.” In a relationship between friends, you’re sometimes going to have arguments and adjustments. I think that South Korea-US relations have reached that stage of maturity.

Hani: How do you think that South Korea-US relations ought to change?

Kim: In the past, the defining identity of the South Korea-US alliance was a guardian-ward relationship. Today, though, we need a new identity. The US will propose readjusting the relationship from the perspective of interests, but in the long run, South Korea-US relations need to develop from the standpoint of the roles that both countries should play on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

Hani: Moon said that South Korea would take control of the destiny of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim: He means that he won’t defer to others. In many cases until now, the fate of the Korean Peninsula was determined by the great powers because we couldn’t resist geopolitical forces, and there are many ways in which we were made the victims. Being a passive observer, in the president’s view, would not be a responsible way to act in this era.

Hani: How does he specifically mean to do that?

Kim: He wants South Korea to play a diplomatic role for peace on the Korean Peninsula that befits the country’s power. To do so, we need to secure the diplomatic space that is available in inter-Korean relations. The goal is peace on the Korean Peninsula. Along with North Korea, we also need to lead a consensus structure with the great powers, and inter-Korean relations are also important in that regard. That structure is the starting point for how Moon Jae-in views the Korean Peninsula. The Trump administration’s policy of “maximum pressure and engagement” is consistent with our ideas. Our current emphasis is on pressure, but that’s a method of bringing North Korea into the channel of dialogue. [The US and South Korea] have the same goal: change in North Korea. That means that our methods will include both pressure and engagement. It looks as if the US and South Korea might be able to set up an effective division of labor.

during an interview with the Hankyoreh at his office in Seoul’s Seodaemun district on May 11. (by Kim Kyung-ho

Hani: After South Korea and the US’s pressure and engagement, how do you plan to bring Pyongyang to the table?

Kim: South Korea and the US can reach an agreement on having denuclearization as the end goal. The “Denuclearization and Opening 3000” and “Korean Peninsula Trust-Building Process” plans created by previous administrations have placed North Korea’s denuclearization as the starting point. That kind of rigidness led to proposals for toppling the North Korean regime and heightened inter-Korean tensions. The question is what should be the starting point. I believe that our three-step plan [for eliminating the North Korean nuclear program] can be coordinated with American policy. This is a step-by-step approach that first freezes [the nuclear program], then eliminates future production of nuclear weapons and then ultimately eliminates nuclear weapons that have already been produced.

Hani: Won’t North Korea need to get some concessions?

Kim: I think we can take as our starting point China’s proposal for “simultaneous suspension” [of nuclear testing and missile launches by North Korea and of joint military exercises by South Korea and the US] and for “simultaneous pursuit” [of North Korean denuclearization and a peace treaty], and we’ll need to look into how to adjust that to our purposes. I think those are good ideas.

Hani: What are you going to do about THAAD?

Kim: In Oct. 2016, Moon said that he respects the bilateral agreement but that the decision should be left to the next administration. It was his intention and his hope to take strategic advantage of the time of the actual deployment process. He’s going to launch a policy review, but at the present moment [with THAAD already deployed] he can’t decide to freeze THAAD in its current state, to remove it or to deploy more batteries. While the review is underway, domestic legal procedures and democratic procedures will take place in South Korea and diplomatic negotiations will be held with China and the US.

Hani: How are you going to improve foreign relations?

Kim: With Japan, we’ll basically need a two-track approach. “Two-track” means dealing separately with Northeast Asian cooperation and historical issues. The government is limited in the role it can play on historical issues. A policy review is needed for the comfort woman agreement. Japan doesn’t want us to review the agreement, but we’re planning to take our time. President Moon thinks there are many issues on which we can have a joint vision with Japan and can work together for the peace and stability of Northeast Asia. He thinks that if South Korea and Japan can make a joint vision, it will be an important factor for deciding the future of Northeast Asia.

By Kim Ji-eun and Jung In-hwan, staff reporters

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