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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon waves to people gathered to welcome him as he arrives at Jeju International Airport on May 25. It was his first visit to South Korea in a year. (pool photo)

“Even as we continue to put pressure on North Korea, we need to use humanitarian aid to get the ball rolling, and we need to try to engage in dialogue and relax tensions,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on May 25.

“The atmosphere is troubling because of issues including [North Korea’s] nuclear weapons and missiles, but the inter-Korean issue is our destiny,” Ban said during an address to the Kwanhun Club at the Lotte Hotel in Seogwipo, Jeju Island on Wednesday afternoon. Ban had come to the island to attend the Jeju Forum.

“There are only seven months left in my term as secretary-general, but I‘ll keep working on it,” he added.

Ban’s remarks - which represent both an appeal and a pledge - are thought to be an attempt to criticize the unbalanced hardline policy toward North Korea adopted by the administration of South Korean President Park Geun-hye as well as to distance himself from that policy. Since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January, the Park administration has staked everything on sanctions against the North, blocking not only government talks but also humanitarian aid and private-sector exchange.

But Ban only emphasized the necessity of humanitarian aid to North Korea, without specifically mentioning the importance of the Sep. 19 Joint Statement or the Six-Party Talks. Both of these appear in UN Security Council Resolution No. 2270, which the Security Council adopted in response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test.

“Because North Korea is facing a number of economic difficulties, I told former president Lee Myung-bak as well as President Park Geun-hye that I thought they should set aside political issues and get the ball rolling on humanitarian aid for North Korea, particularly in terms of aid for North Korean babies and young children. Both administrations agreed to this, but right now the atmosphere is very strained,” Ban said.

Ban indicated that he is committed to visiting North Korea if a chance presents itself in the seven months left in his term as secretary-general, revealing his deep regret for having been unable to visit the North even once in his term, which has already lasted for more than nine years.

“We’ve continued to discuss this with North Korea and there were several opportunities to visit the North, but we haven’t been able to pull them off. The day before I was supposed to visit Panmunjeom, North Korea pulled out, and at the end of last year, there was a pretty good chance to go to the North, but they postponed my visit once again,” Ban said.

“Even so, channels remain open for senior dialogue between the UN and North Korea,” he added.

“I think that I may be the only one who has maintained channels of dialogue with North Korea. I will keep working to create an opportunity to visit the North.”

During a trip to South Korea in May 2015, Ban was supposed to visit the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, but the visit fell through when Pyongyang withdrew its approval for his visit one day in advance.

In Nov. 2015, plans for Ban to visit the North came so close to fruition that a UN spokesperson officially announced that deliberations about the visit were underway. But North Korea canceled his visit with no explanation.

By Lee Je-hun, staff reporter

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