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A view of the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Olympics (provided by Gangwon Province)

South Korean and US experts are more or less in agreement on the need to carry forward the momentum from current inter-Korean dialogue once the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are over. Speaking with foreign correspondents after attending a Track 1.5 dialogue between South Korea and the US in Washington, DC, on Jan. 29, Handong University professor Kim Joon-hyung reported that participants on both sides “agreed that the [inter-Korean] dialogue climate needs to be carried forward.”

“In terms of how to do that, one participant summed it up by saying there shouldn’t be a problem if [South Korean] President Moon Jae-in and [US] President [Donald] Trump continue cooperating and talking the way they’re doing now,” Kim continued.

“No signs of disagreement have been detected between South Korea and US in terms of the current dialogue climate, and there are also signs of change with US hard-liners softening a great deal in their suspicions of Moon,” he noted.

Yonsei University professor and former Blue House National Security Office second deputy director Kim Ki-jung said he saw the possibility for North Korea-US dialogue as “still open,” adding that “South Korea needs to be a guiding force.”

“We need a three-pointed positive feedback loop situation where North Korea-US relations and the South Korea-US alliance both progress through inter-Korean relations,” Kim added.

Kim also responded to claims from some quarters that Pyongyang is attempting to drive a wedge in the South Korea-US alliance.

“South Korea and the US share the view that even if that is North Korea’s aim, it doesn’t really have the capability,” he said.

When asked by a US participant about the possibilities of a North Korean propaganda campaign, Kim said he had “explained about the soundness of South Korean society – how it would not likely be affected even if that were North Korea’s intention.”

Institute for National Security Strategy director Cho Dong-ho noted a “heated debate even in the US over the effectiveness of economic sanctions against the North.”

“We need to continue meeting in a Track 1.5 format and conducting joint South Korea-US research on the effects of economic sanctions,” Cho suggested.

Attending the dialogue on Jan. 20 from the South Korean side were Blue House Peace and Arms Control Secretary Choi Jong-geon, CUNY Queens College professor Cho Dong-ho, Yonsei University professor Kim Ki-jung, Seoul National University professor Chun Chae-sung, Handong Universty professor Kim Joon-hyung, and department director from the Ministries of National Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Unification.

Eighteen US attendees also participated, including State Department director for Korean affairs Mark Lambert, Defense Department Korea office director James Finch, experts from local think tanks, and former US ambassadors to South Korea.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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