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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at a forum sponsored by the Korea Foundation and the Atlantic Council called, “Reimagining the US-Republic of Korea Partnership in the Trans-Pacific Century,” in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 12. (AFP/Yonhap News)
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Some Blue House officials doubtful the US Secretary of State’s remarks will make much impact
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a significant gesture for dialogue toward North Korea at a public event. By easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula – which had been further heightened by Pyongyang’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Nov. 29 – and considerably lowering the threshold for resuming dialogue, the US appears to have put the ball in North Korea’s court. “We’re ready to have the first meeting without precondition,” Tillerson said during remarks at a forum called “Reimagining the US-Republic of Korea Partnership in the Trans-Pacific Century.” Jointly hosted by the Korea Foundation and the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, the forum was held in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 12. This was the first time that a high-ranking official in the Trump administration has mentioned unconditional dialogue with North Korea. In his remarks, Tillerson expressed a strong commitment to dialogue: “Let’s just meet… we can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a round table if that’s what you’re excited about. But can we at least sit down and see each other face to face?” By mentioning a “precondition,” Tillerson was apparently referring to North Korea’s willingness to denuclearize and actions showing its sincerity, which have been treated as the implied condition for resuming dialogue according to the policy of “strategic patience” under the Obama administration. Until recently, the Trump administration has also stipulated similar conditions, declaring that there will be no talks for talk’s sake. “It’s not realistic to say we’re only going to talk if you come to the table ready to give up your program. They have too much invested in it,” Tillerson said. He added that “President [Trump] is very realistic about that as well,” emphasizing that he and Trump were in agreement on this point. Tillerson suggested that, once the negotiations began, all issues are open for discussion: “Negotiations means a willingness to talk about a lot of things… And what [does North Korea] want to put on the table? And we’ll tell you what we want to put on the table.” Once talks are underway, he said, “we can begin to lay out a map, a roadmap of what we might be willing to work towards.” The basic principle here is that talks come first and the roadmap second. Tillerson said that there are only three conditions for dialogue. The first is a “period of quiet” in which North Korea does not carry out any more nuclear and missile tests prior to dialogue; the second is that North Korea needs to tell the US it wants to talk; and the third is that North Korea needs to decide that it will not test its nuclear or missile devices during the talks. These three conditions reconfirm the so-called Tillerson plan, which was announced before North Korea’s recent ICBM launch. The Tillerson plan proposed that if North Korea did not commit a provocation for 60 days and directly said it wanted to engage in dialogue, it would be possible to launch exploratory talks with the North. Fears that North Korea could proliferate nuclear weapons Tillerson’s apparent reason for greatly lowering the threshold for dialogue is the fear that North Korea could sell nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations and other non-state actors. “It’s clear to us that [North Korea] would not just use the possession of nuclear weapons as a deterrent… Because we already see elements of it in the commercial marketplace,” he said. This coincides with the recent surge in the frequency with which US officials have been raising concerns about the proliferation of North Korean nuclear weapons. But Tillerson also indicated that the military option is also ready in case the push for negotiations fails. “I will continue our diplomatic efforts until the first bomb drops,” Tillerson said, but added that “there are multiple military options that have been developed to deal with a failure on my part.” He also warned North Korea that he is “confident [Defense] Secretary [James] Mattis will be successful if it ends up being his turn [to use force].” US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said something to the same effect at another event in Washington on the same day, remarking that this “might be our last best chance to avoid military conflict." “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson swung the door wide open to negotiations with North Korea… Tillerson’s remarks were one of the clearest diplomatic overtures to date from the Trump administration to Pyongyang,” said Foreign Policy, an American media outlet specializing in foreign affairs, while addressing Tillerson’s remarks. CNN also concluded that Tillerson had given North Korea “a direct public invitation… to put aside an escalating cycle of [nuclear weapon and missile] tests and taunts [by Trump] and engage in diplomacy.” But Wi Seong-rak, former South Korean ambassador to Russia and South Korea’s senior representative to the Six-Party Talks, sees Tillerson’s remarks as being “identical to [the US’s] current stance.” “I don’t think this will have an impact on the current situation,” Wi said. The current situation on the Korean Peninsula, he argued, is “an adversarial stand-off consisting of provocations and pressure. We have to regard the situation as being even worse” than in April and September, when there was talk of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The Reuters wire service also expressed concern about whether Trump is fully backing the efforts by Tillerson, whose influence in the administration is waning. The White House released a statement immediately after Tillerson’s remarks stating that Trump’s position on North Korea had not changed, prompting a variety of interpretations. “We believe that [Tillerson’s remarks] emphasized once again the US position that North Korea needs to halt its provocations and threats and return to dialogue. South Korea and the US hold that various kinds of contact are possible if they help achieve the goal of completely eliminating North Korea’s nuclear program in a peaceful manner in line with the principle of not tolerating a nuclear North Korea,” said Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun on Dec. 13. Some Blue House officials also raised doubts about whether Tillerson’s remarks represented the official position of the US government. By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent, Kim Ji-eun and Jeon Jeong-yoon, staff reporters Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
