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Blue House National Security Office Second Deputy Chief Kim Hyun-chong talks with reporters upon returning from the US on Apr. 5 via Incheon International Airport.

Speaking on Apr. 5 following a visit to the US, Blue House National Security Office Second Deputy Chief Kim Hyun-chong predicted the possibility of “good results” emerging from a South Korea-US summit next week, which is expected to be a watershed for the political situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim, who previously departed on Mar. 30 to work on coordinating an agenda for the Apr. 11 summit in Washington, DC, met with reporters on Apr. 5 following his return via Incheon International Airport.

“This was my first visit to the US since becoming second deputy director of the NSO,” he observed, adding that he had had a “very good conversation” with White House Deputy National Security Advisor Charles Kupperman.

When asked whether the agenda for the summit would include areas aimed at bridging differences between Pyongyang and Washington – such as partial sanctions relief or the resumption of tourism to Mt. Kumgang and operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex – Kim said there had been “no mention whatsoever of Mt. Kumgang or Kaesong.”

“Those issues are to be discussed in greater depth between the leaders,” he said.

Kim also waved off criticisms from conservatives about South Korea and the US being “out of step.”

“The mood in the US during my visit was very positive. I don’t see [the two sides] as being out of step,” he said.

“We’re fully in agreement in our views on the final destination [denuclearization] and the roadmap, so the claims about ‘cracks’ are not true,” he added.

Sending special envoy to Pyongyang after S. Korea-US summit under consideration

After common ground was reached at a recent North Korea-US summit in Hanoi between Washington’s demands for a “big deal” and Pyongyang’s insistence on a “small deal,” the question is whether the South Korean and US leaders can bridge the differences in US demands for total denuclearization and North Korea’s calls for corresponding measures. A solution for achieving progress in negotiations looks poised to determine the direction of the Korean Peninsula political situation this year. Plans for sending a special envoy to the North for discussions based on the outcome of the South Korea-US summit are also under discussion. When asked about the matter during a meeting of the National Assembly Steering Committee on Apr. 4, Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong said the sending of an envoy was “under consideration.”

Many have been arguing that North Korea will need to come out with bolder denuclearization steps and the US with corresponding measures to break the two sides out of their current impasse. Speaking on Apr. 4 at an academic confidence on the “Moon Jae-in administration and Korean Peninsula peace initiative,” Moon Chung-in, special presidential advisor for unification, foreign affairs and national security, suggested that North Korea should agree to international inspections of its dismantled nuclear test site at Punggye Village.

“There will certainly be corresponding measures from the US if North Korea comes out with measures in connection with denuclearization,” Moon predicted.

“Sanctions relief in connection with the Kaesong Complex and Mt. Kumgang is another option that would not require changing UN sanctions,” he added.

Robert Carlin, visiting scholar at Stanford University and a North Korea expert who previously worked for the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), published an Apr. 4 opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times titled, “Trump should trust his instincts, not [White House National Security Adviser John] Bolton’s, on North Korea,” in which he criticized the US for demanding a “rehash of a ‘Libya model’” from North Korea in Hanoi.

“Next week, when President Moon Jae-in of South Korea arrives in Washington, there’s a chance to regain traction on negotiations with North Korea if he and Trump can harness each other’s pragmatic experience in dealing with Kim and drop the all or nothing approaches,” Carlin suggested.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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