[Editorial] One-sided demands and hardline remarks from US could spoil summit hopes

US National Security Advisor John Bolton appeared on ABC News on May 13 said denuclearization means “getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oakridge, Tennessee.” (web archives)

The mood of optimism about the success of the North Korea-US summit has taken a turn for the worse. After North Korea abruptly delayed high-level inter-Korean talks, Kim Kye-gwan, the North’s First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, released a statement that directly attacked the US for putting pressure on the North. Judging from the North’s statement, its original desire to hold a successful summit with the US does not seem to have changed, but the situation could go south if the two sides keep squabbling.

In the early morning hours of May 16, before Kim Kye-gwan’s statement was released, North Korea notified the South that it was indefinitely delaying the high-level inter-Korean talks scheduled to be held that day. The excuse given by the North was a joint air force drill by South Korea and the US, but the actual reason appears to have been American efforts to pressure the North. In its statement, the North expressed extreme discomfort with references by US government officials to the Libyan approach to denuclearization, with the implication that the North must give up its nuclear weapons before it is rewarded.

If the US tries to impose a one-sided policy of denuclearization, the North warned, it would have no choice but to reconsider its summit with the US. Pyongyang also revealed its displeasure with the US’s expansion of the summit agenda to include issues such as the complete elimination of the North’s chemical and biological weapons program. In the worst-case scenario, in other words, the summit might not be held at all.

US President Donald Trump steps off the presidential helicopter Marine One on May 15 after arriving at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where First Lady Melania Trump underwent kidney surgery the previous day.

Even after US President Donald Trump announced that the North Korea-US summit has been finalized, there has been no end to hardline remarks from the US aimed at pressuring North Korea. In particular, US National Security Advisor John Bolton has repeatedly mentioned the Libyan approach, contending that sanctions on the North cannot be eased until the North sends all its nuclear weapons to the US to be destroyed. Reiterating such remarks even though North Korea has clearly stated its rejection of the Libyan approach is both inappropriate and completely unhelpful for the summit.

We must also bear in mind North Korea’s request for “courtesy to one’s dialogue counterpart” in regard to the US government’s reference to North Korea’s human rights issue. For the talks to be successful, both sides must stick to the agenda; constantly widening the agenda and making demands the other side cannot accept is not the appropriate stance for negotiations.

If these oppressive remarks by Bolton and other hardliners in the US administration continue, they could rock the boat of dialogue that has been launched with such difficulty. The US should focus on finding an ideal way to swap complete denuclearization for a security guarantee for the North Korean regime.

The South Korean government also needs to make a careful assessment of whether there is some problem with its management of the situation. The first question is whether it was necessary to conduct the Max Thunder drills – which North Korea offered as the reason for delaying the high-level talks – on such a large scale. Eight of the US’s top-of-the-line F-22 stealth fighters participated in this round of drills, unlike last year.

Considering that North Korea regards the South Korea-US joint military exercises as a threat, a somewhat more prudent attitude should have been adopted. Fortunately, the government finally decided not to have long-range bombers participate in the exercises. We must also pay attention to the fact that the North Korean media has mentioned Thae Yong-ho, a former minister-level embassy diplomat at the North Korean Embassy to the UK.

Amid heightened expectations about dialogue, Thae has made comments denying that the North is committed to denuclearization, thus pouring cold water on the North Korea-US talks.

North Korea also needs to exercise restraint. It does not show “courtesy to one’s dialogue counterpart” to unilaterally delay talks early in the morning of the day they were scheduled to be held just because you are not pleased with how the situation is developing. Furthermore, the Max Thunder exercises began on May 11, so taking issues with the exercises all of a sudden only erodes the trust that has been built.

Inter-Korean relations and North Korea-US relations have a long way to go. This is a precarious time that demands the utmost caution. It is too early to say for certain what the total impact is of North Korea’s statement bashing the US and its delay of the high-level talks. If the ripples reach the shutdown of North Korea’s nuclear test site at Punggye Village that is scheduled for next week, the situation will really escalate.

To prevent that from happening, the South Korean government must handle the situation as cautiously as possible. If necessary, one option would be for the leaders of South and North Korea to speak together on their hotline.

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