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South Korean President Moon Jae-in in an interview with KBS on May 9

During an interview on May 9, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that, while he is concerned about North Korea’s launch of what is presumed to be a short-range missile, the North isn’t trying to sabotage dialogue. Moon also expressed the need for food aid to North Korea and suggested that the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties meet to discuss that issue.

Moon made the remarks in an interview with KBS, which took place at the Sangchunjae reception hall at the Blue House on Thursday evening, which was the second anniversary of his inauguration as president. “I think that the launch of a ballistic missile, even a short-range one, could have violated UN Security Council resolutions,” Moon said. But alongside those concerns, he also emphasized that “North Korea is also showing us that it’s trying not to sabotage dialogue.”

Moon went on to say he thinks that the South Korean government’s decision to provide food aid to North Korea “will have the effect of breaking through the deadlock [in the denuclearization talks]. President Trump expressed his active support on that point.”

“President Trump asked me to share that we have his absolute blessing for providing humanitarian aid to North Korea and that he thinks this is a really good development,” Moon said, referring to his telephone call with US President Donald Trump on May 7.

Moon said that Trump had responded to North Korea’s launch of projectiles on May 4 by saying he wasn’t very worried about it. “President Trump said that he likes Chairman Kim Jong-un and that they have a good relationship. He said he expects this will be cleared up through dialogue with Chairman Kim,” Moon said. “The issue of food aid to North Korea naturally came up” while the two leaders were discussing ways to speed up dialogue, Moon explained.

When asked about the possibility of the South Korean government providing food aid directly, Moon said, “South Korea’s stockpile of rice exceeds domestic demand, costing about 600 billion won each year in storage costs alone. We can’t ignore the serious famine in North Korea, and I think we’re obliged to provide food to the North both because of humanitarian concerns and because of our love for our fellow Koreans.“

“I think this could also have the effect of breaking through the deadlock in the dialogue. That was what President Trump was thinking about when he expressed his full support [for food aid to the North],” Moon went on to say.

“The inter-Korean cooperation fund has to be used [for food aid to North Korea], and we would have to report that to the National Assembly as well at a later point. The ruling and opposition parties are currently in a state of gridlock over the question of fast-tracking legislation. But even if that issue is resolved separately, I think it would be best for me, as president, to get together with the ruling and opposition parties to deliberate this,” Moon said.

Given North Korea’s repeated projectile launches, Moon also mentioned the need for “the support and consensus of the people” for food aid to North Korea, as well as for “adequate debate between the ruling and opposition parties.”

Moon also talked about the deadlock in North Korea and the US’ negotiations about denuclearization. “The two sides are in complete agreement about the ultimate goal of the denuclearization talks. The US wants North Korea’s complete denuclearization, and North Korea wants a complete guarantee of their security. While North Korea, the US, and even South Korea are in agreement on those points, this isn’t something that can be traded all at once, in a single moment. That’s why we need a roadmap for that process, and that’s where the disagreement comes in,” he said.

When asked about efforts to set up an inter-Korean summit, Moon said, “We aren’t pressing North Korea to hold a fourth inter-Korean summit yet. North Korea wasn’t able to talk with us because it needed time to work out its own position and because of Chairman Kim’s summit with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin. But since the North’s circumstances now permit it to engage in dialogue, we’re planning to keep proposing talks with the North and guiding them to dialogue.”

Moon also said that “Chairman Kim expressed his commitment to denuclearization very candidly” in the conversation the two had on a footbridge during their first inter-Korean summit in Panmunjom last year.

“Chairman Kim expressed his commitment by pointing out that the North would have no reason to go to all the trouble of acquiring nuclear weapons in the face of sanctions if it could achieve security without them. He also asked for my advice about what he should do in talks with the US, since his advisors had little experience with that while he had no experience at all,” Moon said.

“The conservation mostly consisted of Chairman Kim asking me questions, which I would then answer. It was a good opportunity for the two of us to have a candid conversation, and it was really great not to need interpreters since we’re from the same nation and speak the same language,” Moon recalled.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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