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US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun. (Hankyoreh archives)

The US sent a message on Nov. 20 calling on North Korea to return to denuclearization talks while proposing that working-level talks take place at a higher echelon between US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. The aim is to achieve substantive progress ahead of a summit between the two leaders by assigning more weight to talks between vice minister-level officials holding practical authority.

Biegun, who is the US representative to working-level denuclearization talks with North Korea, shared his opinions during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing that day as deputy secretary of state. Remarking on his promotion, he said that it sent an important message to the US’ counterparts in Pyongyang by further elevating the priority of North Korea-related issues. Biegun plans to continue taking part in negotiations with North Korea as special representative if he is confirmed as deputy secretary of state.

“The person who needs to negotiate with me in North Korea is the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui,” he said. Commenting that the North Korean dialogue partners he had met to date did not hold sufficient authority, he noted that Choe is trusted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who keeps her close by his side. While Biegun’s current North Korean counterpart is Foreign Ministry Roving Ambassador Kim Myong-gil, his remarks read as openly suggesting that North Korea should choose Choe, a higher-level official with more weight and practical authority, if he is confirmed by the Senate as deputy secretary of state.

As a reason for naming Choe as his preferred counterpart in negotiations, he pointed to the conclusion that the failure to make progress in working-level talks was the result of representatives appearing on North Korea’s behalf without practical authority on the denuclearization issue. In his remarks Biegun quoted US President Donald Trump as saying there needed to be a deal or “near-deal” for a summit to yield results -- stressing the importance of achieving substantive results at the working level before a third summit takes place. North Korea-US discussions have been deadlocked since the collapse of working-level negotiations in Stockholm on Oct. 4-5.

“We do not have any verifiable or meaningful evidence that they have yet made that choice [to denuclearize]. Our hypothesis is they can make that choice,” he said, indicating his strong commitment to dialogue. Repeatedly emphasizing that the “window is still open,” he called on North Korea to “seize the moment.”

Remarking on the end-of-year deadline set by Pyongyang in its demands for a “new method of calculation” from Washington, Biegun said, “That’s an artificial deadline set by the North Koreans, and unfortunately it’s a deadline that they’ve set upon themselves.”

“We do not have a year-end deadline,” he insisted.

At the same time, he also said he could “imagine that we could see a possibility of going back to some of the more provocative steps that preceded the start of this diplomacy to begin with” once the “deadline” passes.

“I think that would be a huge mistake and a missed opportunity by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he added. His remarks read as also sending a warning message to Pyongyang over concerns that it might resume long-range missile launches, nuclear testing, or similar activities. With the end of the year approaching, North Korea has recently been issuing a series of statements pressuring the US and insisting that dialogue cannot take place until Washington withdraws its “hostile policies.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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