US explores option of establishing liaison office in N. Korea, Kyodo News reports

Posted on : 2020-08-10 17:22 KST Modified on : 2020-08-10 17:22 KST
Trump seems to be desperate for foreign policy achievement ahead of presidential election
Footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting a site of flood damage in Unpa County, North Hwanghae Province, broadcasted by Korean Central Television on Aug. 7. (KCTV screenshot/Yonhap News)
Footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting a site of flood damage in Unpa County, North Hwanghae Province, broadcasted by Korean Central Television on Aug. 7. (KCTV screenshot/Yonhap News)

The US is looking into the possibility of establishing liaison offices with North Korea in order to move forward its denuclearization talks with the North, the Japanese press reported.

“The American government is exploring the idea of setting up mutual liaison offices with North Korea. Japan and South Korea also appear to be assessing American intentions,” reported Kyodo News, quoting a diplomatic source, on Aug. 8.

If established, liaison offices would function as de facto embassies for the two countries, which lack diplomatic relations, permanently stationing an American official in Pyongyang and a North Korean official in Washington.

There was considerable discussion of trading liaison offices leading up to the second North Korea-US summit, held in Hanoi at the end of February 2019, but the idea was shelved after the summit ended without results.

Liaison office unlikely to work in current environment, senior S. Korean official says

The idea is being floated in the US because of Trump’s desperate need for some tangible foreign policy achievements as he faces an uphill battle in the presidential election coming up in November.

“If and when we win, we will make deals with Iran very quickly. We’ll make deals with North Korea very quickly,” Trump said during a press conference at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 8.

“If I didn’t win the election in 2016, our country would now be [. . .] in war with North Korea. [. . .] And we actually have a relationship with North Korea, which is something that [. . .] was never established by the previous administration,” Trump added.

“The US is exploring the idea, but setting up offices wouldn’t be easy given the strict immigration controls that are in place to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Holding negotiations in a third country also presents its own difficulties,” Kyodo News said.

“While we can’t say that the US lacks any such intentions, it doesn’t seem to fit into the current trends,” said an official in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

By Lee Jung-ae and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporters

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

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories

Most viewed articles