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President Moon Jae-in watches the first sunrise of the New Year at Samo Rock while hiking Mt. Bukhan in northern Seoul on Jan. 6 with six “everyday heroes who lit up 2017.” (provided by Blue House)
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“Pyeongchang Peace Olympics” push gains momentum, cautious Blue House sends welcome message six hours later
The Blue House sent a message of welcome on Jan. 1 in response to a New Year’s address by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un indicating his willingness to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and proposing meetings between South and North Korean authorities. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has proposed North Korean participation in the Olympics on several occasions, first at a June 2017 congratulatory address at the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju and later in his July declaration in Berlin, a September speech before the UN General Assembly in New York, and an NBC interview in December. With Kim finally giving his first response on Jan. 1, Moon’s vision for a “Peace Olympics” is now poised to gather momentum. “A successfully staging of the Pyeongchang Olympics as a ‘Peace Olympics’ will contribute to peace and reconciliation for the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and the rest of the world,” Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing that afternoon. “The Blue House has stated its willingness to hold dialogue with North Korea at any time and place and in any form if it relates to restoring inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he continued. “The Blue House hopes that South and North can work closely with the international community on a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue and sit down responsibly as direct parties to Korean Peninsula issues to find solutions to reduce tensions and establish peace on the peninsula.” The official position from the Blue House came at around 4 pm that day, six hours after Kim’s address was broadcast. The announcement came after Moon met with major Blue House aides to closely analyze the chief content of the address and hold in-depth discussions on how Seoul’s position should be pitched. The Blue House also discussed the matter over diplomatic channels with the US and other countries, sources said. “President Moon gave final confirmation for the Blue House’s position. The important thing is that this is a signal that a new state of affairs has come about [in inter-Korean relations and on the North Korean nuclear and missile issues],” a key Blue House official said in a meeting with reporters. “For issues like this, we always cooperation organically [with the US] in issuing a position,” the official added. While the brief response from the Blue House on Jan. 1 generally suggested an attitude of “wary welcome,” it also had one striking aspect, with its last paragraph mentioning the two sides “sit[ting] down responsibly as direct parties to Korean Peninsula issues to find solutions to reduce tensions and establish peace on the peninsula.” The phrasing read as echoing the emphasis on pursuing a solution “among the Korean people” – a position stressed by Kim in his address, and by Pyongyang on numerous occasions in the past. The message appears likely to have a positive impact on future inter-Korean working-level meetings and talks between government officials. Meetings between authorities on the two sides for the sending of a North Korean delegation to the Games now appear set to proceed apace with the Ministry of Unification and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. With the Olympics taking place from Feb. 9 to 25, working-level discussions on a delegation will have to be completed by the additional participation application deadline of Jan. 29. “Now that the situation is undergoing major changes, it’s going to be important to manage things carefully. While this dialogue is mediated by the Pyeongchang Olympics, it’s also in a real sense like political talks toward restoring inter-Korean relations after they were severed by the last administration,” a Blue House source said. “We may be able to speed things up once the inter-Korean communication channels are restored and authorities begin meeting at Panmunjeom,” the source suggested. If South and North Korean authorities do initiate dialogue toward North Korea’s participation in the Games and Pyongyang refrains from further provocations, the joint South Korea-US military exercises scheduled around the time of the Olympics and Paralympics could be postponed or downscaled. “There was pressure to state a position,” a Blue House source said of Moon’s remarks in an NBC interview hinting that the exercises could be postponed. “If there’s a change in signals from North Korea, then obviously there needs to be a corresponding signal [from Seoul],” the official added. “We hope the positive signals will continue soon between South Korea and the US.” By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
