hankyoreh

Joseph Yun

“We want to start dialogue with North Korea. We want credible dialogue that can lead to denuclearization,” said Joseph Yun, Special Representative for North Korea Policy at the US State Department, on Feb. 2.

That was the response that Yun gave when reporters asked him about the possibility of North Korea-US dialogue when he was coming out of a meeting with South Korean Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung at the main government office in downtown Seoul. “That [denuclearization] is our goal, and President Moon Jae-in has also emphasized that goal,” Yun added.

“I told Vice Minister Chun that, as President Trump said three weeks ago in January, we want the Olympics to be extremely safe and successful and we hope to be of help,” Yun said. “I also emphasized [to Chun] that this is a great opportunity to make progress on the issue of denuclearization.”

“We reconfirmed with the US that we will be deliberating closely so that improving inter-Korean relations and resolving the North Korean nuclear issue can form a virtuous cycle during the Pyeongchang Olympics and Paralympics,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a press release issued after the meeting.

During the meeting, Chun discussed the recent trends in inter-Korean relations and said that “since improving inter-Korean relations is limited as long as there is no progress on denuclearization, we will work so that progress in inter-Korean relations can contribute positively to forming the conditions for talks about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula,” the Unification Ministry related.

“Yun was pleased that South Korea and the US have cooperated closely on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and on the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics, and he emphasized that the US is committed to helping the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics be a safe and peaceful Olympics,” the Unification Ministry also said. Yun was also quoted as saying once again that “the US is open to credible dialogue toward denuclearization.”

On Feb. 5, Yun will be holding discussions with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon, the South Korean Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs. During the meeting, the officials are expected to discuss the possibility of future dialogue between North Korea and the US, including expectations that high-ranking North Korean officials will visit the South during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

In related news, Lee Do-hoon met Igor Morgulov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for the Asia-Pacific region and Russia’s senior representative to the Six-Party Talks, in Moscow on Feb. 2. Their discussion resulted in an agreement for South Korea and Russia to work together to facilitate various kinds of dialogue aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, including North Korea-US dialogue.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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