hankyoreh

South Korean President Moon Jae-in gave a written interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper ahead of a May 9 trilateral summit in Tokyo with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Published on May 8, the interview depicted President Moon stressing his plans to play a role in using North Korean leader’s “firm commitment to complete denuclearization” as established in a recent inter-Korean summit as groundwork for normalizing Pyongyang’s relations with Washington and Tokyo.

To begin with, President Moon stressed in the interview that “establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and shared prosperity for South and North is only possible through real progress in denuclearization, and through normalization of North Korea-US relations and the establishment of a permanent peace regime on that basis.”

In his response, he gave “real progress” in denuclearization as the necessary driving force for the journey toward “peace and prosperity.” He also stressed the importance of “reaching a generous agreement and establishing concrete plans to achieve complete denuclearization through the North Korea-US summit.”

But President Moon’s remarks did not refer only to unilateral measures by Pyongyang. Indeed, his reference to a “generous agreement” to achieve denuclearization should be viewed as referring to “comprehensive principles” for re-establishing the North Korea-US relationship – including denuclearization – with the resulting “concrete plans” to include a balanced mixture of denuclearization by North Korea and regime security guarantees by the US.

Second, President Moon reported having the “impression that Chairman Kim Jong-un is very candid and practical,” adding that the North Korean leader “has a clear understanding of the international community’s demands” in terms of denuclearization. While he cautioned against “hasty optimism,” he added, “We cannot achieve anything if we succumb to pessimism and predict that today’s discussions will fail because our past discussions with North Korea on the nuclear issue ended in failure.”

His remarks read as an indirect rebuke against arguments in South Korea, the US, and Japan – especially among conservatives – warning that Pyongyang “cannot be trusted” and voicing pessimism about the negotiations’ prospects.

Third, President Moon predicted the normalization of relations between North Korea and Japan would “contribute greatly to peace and stability in Northeast Asia.”

“Dialogue between North Korea and Japan needs to be resumed,” he said.

He also shared that he had “communicated Prime Minister Abe’s intentions of pursuing normalization of North Korea-Japan relations based on the addressing of past issues” to Kim during the inter-Korean summit, adding that Kim “said he was willing to have dialogue with Japan at any time.” President Moon further stressed that he was “well aware how important the [Japanese] abductee issue is to the Japanese government and people.” (At least 17 Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean agents during the period from 1977 to 1983.)

“I also mentioned [the abductee issue] directly during my summit with Chairman Kim,” he said.

President Moon’s emphasis on his major interest in the abductee issue – which has had a major impact on Japanese public opinion toward North Korea – reads as a roundabout declaration that his calls for dialogue and normalized relations with Pyongyang are not exclusively directed at Tokyo.

At the same time, he also implied that normalization of North Korea-Japan relations would not be accorded the same emphasis as North Korea-US relations. While he promised to “play every possible role” in building trust and enforcing agreements between Pyongyang and Washington, his message on North Korea-Japan dialogue was a promise for Seoul to “continue closely communicating coordinating with Japan going ahead.” The difference was palpable.

He also expressed his “hopes for Japan’s active support and cooperation for the success of the North Korea-US summit and the journey to establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

The remarks read as euphemistically targeting Japan’s approach in insistently pressing its hardline denuclearization demands on US President Donald Trump.

On May 9, President Moon is to arrive in Japan for a fourth South Korea-Japan summit with Abe – the first visit to Japan by a South Korean President in six-and-a-half years. During the summit, President Moon is expected to reiterate the “two-track” approach he has stressed since taking office, which involves addressing the comfort women issue and other matters of historical perspectives separately from other issues.

In his Yomiuri Shinmun interview published on May 8, he stressed that he had “consistently stated my position in favor of pursuing future-oriented cooperation [with Japan] separately from historical issues.”

At the same time, he added, “Treaties and agreements between governments alone are unlikely to allow many people, including the Japanese military comfort women survivors, to regain their human dignity as individuals and fully heal the wounds in their hearts.”

“A sincere apology and remorse from the heart need to be communicated to and accepted by the victims,” he said.

President Moon also announced plans to hold an additional bilateral summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during the trilateral summit to “share opinions on advancing South Korea-China relations and the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the outcome of the inter-Korean summit,” the Blue House reported.

By Lee Je-hun, editor in chief, and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter