[Editorial] Cancellation of Pompeo’s NK visit makes Seoul’s role as mediator even more important

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump at the first-ever North Korea-US summit on June 12 in Singapore. (AFP)

On Aug. 24, US President Donald Trump decided to call off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to North Korea, bringing the North Korea-US denuclearization talks to a crossroads – in one direction lies a prolonged impasse and in the other yet another reversal. This is a disturbing development, since worsening conditions could also have an impact on the third inter-Korean summit, which is scheduled for September.

Trump offered two reasons for pulling the plug on Pompeo’s trip. One was that there hadn’t been enough progress on North Korea’s denuclearization, and the other was that China wasn’t helping with the denuclearization process as it had before because of its trade war with the US. With denuclearization proceeding at a crawl, concerns that Pompeo could return empty-handed, on top of the China issue, led Trump to conclude that it wasn’t the right time for Pompeo to visit the North.

But even amid such circumstances, it’s a relief that Trump’s still trusts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The fact that Trump sent his regards to Kim and said he “look[s] forward to seeing him” brings to mind Trump’s notification of his cancellation of the June 12 Singapore summit. If this cancellation is just a Trumpian negotiating tactic, the two sides may be sitting at the table for talks before too long.

The problem is time. Under the best-case scenario, Pompeo would make progress in the denuclearization talks during his visit to the North, and the third inter-Korean summit would pave the way for a major achievement during North Korea-US talks during the UN General Assembly at the end of September. But if Pompeo’s visit is delayed, this scenario could be thrown off kilter.

North Korea and the US have been debating over which should come first: a declaration officially ending the Korean War or progress toward denuclearization. If the visit to North Korea was canceled because the two sides failed to reach a definite compromise on these positions, they ought to be even more proactive about finding middle ground. Instead of just insisting on an end-of-war declaration, Pyongyang needs to take a forward-looking stance and express willingness to accede to Washington’s request for a list of nuclear facilities.

The US also needs to make clear that the North Korea-US issue is something for North Korea and the US to decide, rather than postponing the negotiations while talking about China’s responsibility.

It’s more urgent now than ever for the South Korean government to serve as a mediator in order to prevent the deadlock between North Korea and the US from becoming protracted. Just as the cancellation of the June 12 North Korea-US summit provided an excuse for South and North Korea to hold their second summit, Seoul needs to make full use of all channels with North Korea and the US in order to reach a breakthrough. Nor is there any reason not to activate the hotline between the leaders of South and North Korea. If this “September opportunity” is squandered, the denuclearization talks themselves could lose momentum.

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