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President Moon Jae-in during an interview at the Blue House with CBS Norah O’Donnell for the program “This Morning”

On June 20, President Moon Jae-in sharply criticized North Korea for being “unreasonable” in regard to Otto Warmbier, the American student who had been detained in North Korea and died six days after returning to the US in a coma. At the same time, Moon said that dialogue with the North was necessary for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. He also said he hopes “the conditions will form that would allow [an inter-Korean summit] to be held within the year” and described the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and peace in Northeast Asia as the greatest accomplishment that could be achieved while he and US President Donald Trump are in office. After 17 months of detention in North Korea, Warmbier returned home in a coma on June 13. Despite medical treatment, he never recovered and passed away on the afternoon of June 19.

“While it’s impossible to know [whether North Korea killed Warmbier], it‘s indisputable that the North Korean government bears a very heavy responsibility for Warmbier’s death,” Moon said during an interview with CBS that took place at the Blue House on June 20. “I strongly denounce North Korea‘s brutal behavior. Several American and South Korean citizens are still being detained in North Korea, and I’m calling for their prompt release as well.”

When a CBS reporter asked how Warmbier‘s death would affect Moon’s efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, he acknowledged the need to “gain a new understanding of the fact that North Korea is a very unreasonable and irrational country.”

“Dialogue is necessary. The sanctions and pressure that the international community has used in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions have been insufficient to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue,” Moon added. “President Trump appears to be reflecting on and criticizing the failure of preceding administrations. I share President Trump’s opinion on that.”

“Just because you think dialogue is necessary doesn’t mean you have to rush into it,” Moon said, while also expressing his hope that an inter-Korean summit could be held before the end of the year. “President Trump and I will have a working relationship for my next five years in office. Achieving our shared goals of establishing a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula and bringing peace and stability to Northeast Asia would be the most satisfying things that President Trump and I could achieve during our time in office,” Moon said.

That same morning, immediately after the news broke about Warmbier’s death, Moon sent his condolences to the bereaved family. “President Moon expressed his regret at the news of Otto Warmbier’s death and communicated his sincere condolences and consolation to the friends and family of the deceased,” said Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun during the day‘s press briefing. Moon’s condolences seem to have been tinged with concern that his administration’s efforts to pave the way for relaxing tensions on the Korean Peninsula during the South Korea-US summit at the end of this month could be frustrated by anti-North Korean sentiment in the US, which appears to be worsening after Warmbier’s death.

The Blue House also published remarks that Moon had made about the Warmbier incident during an interview with the Washington Post on June 19, shortly before Warmbier‘s death. Moon strongly criticized the North Korean authorities in this interview, too: “The biggest question is whether North Korea adequately carried out its humanitarian duty to inform Warmbier’s family as soon as his health deteriorated and to enable him to receive the best medical care. It‘s extremely deplorable that North Korea does not value human rights, which are a universal human norm and value.”

“Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier on his untimely passing,” President Trump said in a statement following the news of Warmbier’s death. “The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime.”

In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson demanded “the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained.”

By Lee Se-young and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters, Jung E-gil, senior staff writer and Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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