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US President Joe Biden waves his hand as he boards Air Force One at Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, on Wednesday. (AP/Yonhap News)

A senior official in the Biden administration said Wednesday that the US won’t be releasing the details of its North Korea policy to maintain “maximum flexibility.”

That reticence appears aimed at leaving wide latitude for adjusting policy both on the level of strategy and details under the previously elaborated principle of a pragmatic diplomatic approach aimed at the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“It is unlikely that we will detail our diplomatic strategy in public,” the official said when asked during a teleconference with reporters whether the US would inform North Korea of specific measures after the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden on Friday.

“What we will attempt to do [. . .] with our allies and subsequently with key interest groups and folks up on Capitol Hill is underscore our overall approach [. . .] and a general sense of what we’d like to accomplish.”

“I think the goal here is to understand that this process is likely to be challenging, and to give ourselves maximum flexibility in the process with ultimate goals that we will continue to strive for,” the official added. “We’re not going to lay out exactly our diplomatic strategy here and now. I would simply say that we’ve tried to design it to be flexible.”

These remarks seem to mean that the US will tailor its approach to North Korea with the utmost flexibility without publicly revealing the details of its North Korea policy.

While that reflects the US’ desire to maintain ambiguity in its negotiating strategy, it may also allow the US to adjust the details of its North Korea policy under the goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Therefore, “maximum flexibility” can be described as a distinctive feature of the Biden administration’s North Korea policy, contrasting with the “maximum pressure” adopted by the Trump administration.

That has led critics to say that the US hasn’t offered North Korea enough incentives to come to the negotiating table, but the US government reconfirmed in the briefing on Wednesday that it won’t publish any more details. The US appears to have concluded that unveiling a detailed blueprint of its strategy in advance and slapping a categorical label on it would hobble the US and weaken its bargaining position.

Nevertheless, it’s still uncertain whether the gesture of “maximum flexibility” is enough to convince North Korea to engage in dialogue. That has shifted attention to what Moon and Biden will discuss in their summit on May 21.

The senior official said that the two leaders were planning to discuss ways to promote North Korea-US dialogue. But the official was cautious about the possibility of the US making an end-of-war declaration.

“I think, at this juncture, it’s really not in our interest to preview or comment on specific issues like an end-of-war declaration in hopes of spurring dialogue,” the official said.

Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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