hankyoreh

South Korean National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong and US Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Stephen Biegun at the Blue House on Oct. 30.

South Korea and the US have decided to set up a working group to beef up bilateral coordination on North Korea’s denuclearization and corresponding US measures, along with the eventual establishment of a peace regime. Set for a launch next month, the working group is to be a pan-governmental control tower centering on the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) with staff participating from related agencies. Active discussions on granting exemptions to sanctions as a way of driving inter-Korean cooperation are expected to take place.

Meeting with reporters on Oct. 31, a MOFA senior official explained the framework while sharing the concept of the group’s operation. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and Stephen Biegun, US State Department special representative for North Korea policy, are seen as likely to serve as the two sides’ representatives, with MOFA and the US State Department serving as the group’s central axis while staff from other agencies participate under a fluid framework as required according to individual issues.

The two sides reportedly agreed on the need to establish a working group to build a permanent system for increased bilateral communication and cooperation as the processes of inter-Korean cooperation and North Korean denuclearization intensify going ahead.

“The working group’s biggest aim is about how to get South Korea and US communicating well and often,” the official said, adding that the discussions advanced over the course of 14 meetings between Lee and Biegun were “meaningful in terms of making things regular, official, and systematic.”

The working group’s actual main roles are to be twofold. First, it will serve as a way for the two sides to share strategies for North Korea’s denuclearization and corresponding US measures, along with the establishment of a peace regime.

“An end-of-war declaration lies at the entrance of establishing a peace regime, and the signing of a peace agreement lies at the exit,” the official explained – hinting that the group will also be discussing the process toward a declaration officially ending the Korean War and the signing of a peace agreement.

The second role involves beefing up the close coordination needed between to implement the terms of inter-Korean cooperation pledged by the South and North Korean leaders in their Panmunjom Declaration and Pyongyang Joint Declaration.

“Our government is ushering [inter-Korean cooperation projects] forward under the sanctions framework, and we’re discussing whether we need to request exemptions to the sanctions,” the official explained, adding that “the working group will be capable” of holding those discussions. The US is reportedly not opposed to inter-Korean cooperation projects per se as long as they are discussed closely between Seoul and Washington.

Addressing concerns from some quarters that the US proposed the working group as a way of throwing brakes on the recent momentum in inter-Korean relations, the official said, “We are the ones who suggested it, and the discussions have been taking place for several months.”

Reporting on Biegun’s visit to South Korea between Oct. 28 and 30, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said on Oct. 30 that the trip’s purpose was “to discuss diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization (FFVD) of North Korea.”

“As part of that, the two [South Korean and US] governments agreed on establishing a new working group that would further strengthen our close coordination on our diplomacy, on our denuclearization efforts, on sanctions implementation, and inter-Korean cooperation that comply with the United Nations sanctions,” he explained.

When asked during the briefing whether there had been any “disagreement” between Washington and Seoul, Palladino replied, “The United States and the Republic of Korea are closely coordinating on our joint approach, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We’ll continue to do so.”

A Blue House source also reported that Biegun had had a separate meeting with Yoon Geon-young, government situation room director, prior to meeting National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong at the Blue House the day before. The meeting took place at the US’ request.

“The government situation room is in charge of general affairs for inter-Korean summits, and Mr. Yoon not only has experience communicating with North Korean figures while visiting with Chung when he was sent to North Korea as a special envoy for the first summit, but also present at the second inter-Korean summit at Panmungak,” a Blue House official said.

“Mr. Biegun appears to have regarded Mr. Yoon as a working-level official at the Blue House with whom he should be meeting,” the official added.

Observers have speculated that Biegun’s decision to meet with Blue House Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok and Yoon rather than the “official line” working on the denuclearization issue may be based on his intention to coordinate perspectives between Seoul and Washington and “slow the roll” of developments in economic cooperation.

“My understanding is that Mr. Biegun did not make any explicit requests along those lines,” a Blue House senior official said in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh.

“But he did apparently focus on expressing his wish to strengthen systematic communication centering on him as the person in charge of North Korea policy,” the official added.

Biegun’s visit to South Korea gave the strong impression of being intended to strengthen his own stature within the State Department as the official in charge of North Korea policy rather than to coordinate the two sides’ views on the Korean Peninsula peace process. Observers also suggested it was intended to make up for the lack of smooth communication within Washington’s foreign affairs line despite the ongoing channels of communication between the two sides – including ones connecting Chung with White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Biegun with Lee Do-hoon.

Indeed, a communication breakdown within the US government was named as being largely to blame for Pompeo’s message of “protest” to Kang regarding the inter-Korean military agreement shortly before the third inter-Korean summit. Kang is reported to have advised Pompeo at the time to “check internally on your [US] side.”

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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