hankyoreh

South Korean President Moon Jae-in takes questions from reporters after his special address on May 10 marking his fourth year in office at the Blue House Press Center. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government is having discussions with the US in regard to a plan for the two country’s leaders to affirm the “independence of inter-Korean relations” at the upcoming South Korea-US summit in Washington on Friday. The Joe Biden administration, however, is not yet fully on board with the plan.

According to multiple government and ruling party sources who spoke with the Hankyoreh Tuesday, the South Korean government is trying to acquire US “understanding” during the first meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden.

The crux of this “understanding” would be to have the US allow the two Koreas to continue improving their relationship regardless of progress in US-North Korean negotiations if such an opportunity presents itself.

In short, the government is trying to obtain US support for the two Koreas to move forward with cooperation independently while avoiding a break with the sanctions framework currently imposed on North Korea by the UN and the US.

Ever since the Biden administration began reviewing its North Korea policy, the South Korean government has reportedly told US officials that there is a need for a diplomatic and gradual approach based on the Singapore agreement, which was aimed at the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and that the US must consider letting the two Koreas develop their relationship independently for strategic reasons.

According to the sources, the South Korean government has focused its diplomatic efforts on finding space for inter-Korean relations to develop independently given that US policy toward North Korea in the new Biden administration “corresponds almost exactly to the direction hoped for by the government.” There is a high likelihood that Washington’s final answer on this issue will be made clear during the scheduled summit.

The reason the South Korean government is moving forward with this approach at its first summit with the Biden administration is due to its critical view of the US sanctions system, exemplified by the “South Korea-US working group” that was active during the Donald Trump administration.

South Korean government officials and other observers have continued to point out that the failure of inter-Korean relations to improve as much as expected following three inter-Korean summits in 2018 – before subsequently falling into long-term deadlock – is largely due to the excessive use of sanctions on North Korea by the US.

For example, US officials pointed to the lack of “previous consultations” to block the entry of notebook computers by reporters accompanying South Korean government officials to an event in Kumgang Mountain, and even prevented a truck loaded with Tamiflu, a cold medicine, from entering North Korea because it could violate sanctions.

In short, the argument goes that the US has used “sanctions” as an excuse to interrupt important points in the process of improving inter-Korean relations. Even the joint review of an area in North Korea being considered for the building of the inter-Korean railway, a project the South Korean government believed did not run afoul of sanctions, was delayed for months because the UN Command refused to give permission for the project to go forward.

The responsibility for the disappointing progress in inter-Korean relations has been placed at the feet of the Trump administration for its failure to consider the unique aspects of the inter-Korean relationship and the excessive focus of the US on ensuring that progress in inter-Korean relations lined up with progress in US-North Korean denuclearization negotiations.

The Trump administration even went to such lengths as to block humanitarian cooperation between the two Koreas that fell outside of the sanctions regime during periods when US-North Korean negotiations failed to progress.

All in all, the Moon administration’s push for the Americans to acknowledge the “independence of inter-Korean relations” is likely driven by a desire to avoid witnessing the mistakes of the Trump administration again.

Another aspect of the Moon administration’s efforts to push forward on this issue is that agreements made by the two leaders at the upcoming summit might not be enough to keep the diplomatic momentum going, particularly given that the summit could be an opportunity to actively consider a plan to have North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take part in diplomatic talks.

The Blue House likely feels that the US needs to strategically consider the need for independence of inter-Korean relations to ensure that the drive behind the Korean Peninsula Peace Process continues in some way even into the next administration given all the work that has been done to advance it thus far.

Even if the US and South Korea agree that the inter-Korean relationship should be afforded some degree of independence, it will not be easy for the two Koreas to move forward with significant achievements in improving their relations while North Korea still keeps its borders shut due to COVID-19.

A South Korean government source told the Hankyoreh, however, that “Once an agreement with the US is made on the big picture, the details can be discussed with North Korea [when the conditions are right].”

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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