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The Rodong Sinmun devoted the first and second pages of its Mar. 1 edition to the second North Korea-US summit in Hanoi

The message that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered after the second North Korea-US summit in Hanoi ended without an agreement was clear and simple: dialogue and negotiations should continue. To elaborate, Kim proposed that constructive dialogue be used to arrange a third summit at which denuclearization measures and incentives are exchanged to the extent permitted by trust between the two countries and in accordance with the principle of step-by-step, simultaneous action.

Kim’s message was communicated through two different channels. First, the Rodong Sinmun published a big-picture assessment of the summit. Second, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho got into the methodology and the nuts and bolts in his late-night press conference. Both of these channels have a high degree of official credibility. The Rodong Sinmun is the official organ of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). Ri Yong-ho is North Korea’s official representative to the outside world.

News about the Hanoi summit on Feb. 28 appeared on the first and second pages of the Mar. 1 edition of the Rodong Sinmun. Kim has a smile on his face in all 13 of the photos that ran in the newspaper. The article was fairly short, about 400 words long, but contained no criticism of the US. Kim’s message as reported by the newspaper can be summarized as follows: Kim wants to “continue productive dialogue to resolve these issues” and hold a “new summit” (his third with the US) to “resolve the issues discussed in the Hanoi summit.”

The newspaper described the talks in Hanoi as “a meaningful opportunity to develop North Korea-US relations in line with the interests of the two peoples.” The failure to reach an agreement was not a “breakdown” or a “collapse” but was one of the “unavoidable challenges and twists and turns” that are bound to occur in a long process. Take the following sentence: “Though the walls of enmity and confrontation that have been built up in our 70 years of hostile relations are high and though there are unavoidable challenges and twists and turns on the journey toward ushering in a new history, [Kim and Trump] expressed their confidence that, if they forged ahead hand in hand and made the most of their wisdom and patience, it would be fully possible to achieve groundbreaking developments that match the goals and desires of our two peoples.” In addition, the newspaper said, the two leaders had a “constructive and candid exchange of opinions,” and Kim “bade farewell [to Trump] with the promise of a new meeting.”

The late-night press conference that Ri Yong-ho held at the Melia Hanoi hotel after midnight on Feb. 28 communicated a message that was unprecedented both in its form and substance. Ri announced the key points of the plan that Kim presented to Trump in the summit to the global press by reading a two-page document. Ri was accompanied at the press conference by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who spent five minutes answering questions from the reporters gathered at the venue. There are few examples of the North Korean authorities holding a press conference with a purpose other than castigating someone and then holding an official question-and-answer session to boot.

“When the North Koreans told the press that what Chairman Kim had asked for in his summit with President Trump was not relief from all the sanctions but from some of the sanctions, they were apparently trying to take immediate action to prevent an impression that was negative to North Korea from spreading. What the press conference was offering was not a rebuttal but an explanation,” said a senior official in the South Korean government.

According to this press conference, the denuclearization measures that Kim offered in Hanoi were the permanent dismantling of the Yongbyon nuclear complex and a document promising the permanent halting of nuclear weapon tests and long-range missile test launches. One notable aspect of the plan to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear complex was how it specified the scope (“all facilities for producing nuclear materials, including plutonium and uranium”), inspections and verification (“in the presence of US experts”) and the parties carrying out the dismantling (“joint work by technicians from the two countries”).

“The permanent dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, including inspections and verification by the US and a joint work process involving the US, is a new proposal that the North Koreans have never offered before,” said a former high-ranking official who’s familiar with the negotiations about North Korea’s nuclear program.

“This principled position of ours won’t change in the slightest degree, and even if the Americans propose negotiations again, there won’t be any changes in our plan,” Ri stated during the press conference, apparently ruling out the possibility of North Korea asking for the resumption of negotiations or making more concessions. These remarks need not be taken at face value. While Ri said that Kim’s proposal was “the biggest step toward denuclearization that we can take at the present moment [. . .] given the current level of trust between our two countries,” Ri notably left the door open for more steps: “when we move through the phase of confidence-building, we’ll be able to make faster progress in the denuclearization process.”

These remarks adhere to the principle of “step-by-step and simultaneous action” publicly elaborated by Kim in the second North Korea-China summit in May 7, 2018, while also suggesting that North Korea’s offer could change depending on the US’ corresponding measures.

Even though Kim is expressing his “very serious commitment to negotiations,” in the words of a high-ranking government official, the prevailing view is that affairs on the Korean Peninsula are likely to remain at “a deadlock without any progress” for the time being. The problems are the major gap between the deals offered by the two sides and by Trump’s vulnerable position domestically.

“Yongbyon represents at least half of North Korea’s nuclear capability, and it’s very unfortunate that Trump walked away from the negotiations without really trying to reach a compromise. It’s time for the South Korean government to maximize its role by coming up with a creative plan,” the former high-ranking official said.

The Rodong Sinmun also made an indirect appeal for South Korea, China and Russia to play a role as mediators and facilitators, describing the Hanoi summit as “a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the peace and safety of the Korean Peninsula, the region and the world.”

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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