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A screenshot of Kang’s interview with the Straits Times (Straits Tiimes website)
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Kang Kyung-wha addresses ASEAN members in Straits Times interview
The international community needs to maintain “unity as we move forward in achieving [. . .] complete denuclearization [. . .] and also to work towards a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said during an interview with the Singapore-based Straits Times on Aug. 1. Kang is visiting Singapore to attend a meeting of foreign ministers during the 25th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other meetings associated with ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). A video of the interview released by the Straits Times shows that Kim was answering a question about the key message she planned to communicate during the series of meetings. “I think what has brought us to this point is the unity of the international community in the message to North Korea,” Kang said, adding that she would “seek the continued support of ASEAN and its member states.” Kang mentioned the international crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile program that was brewing when the 24th session of the forum was held in Manila last year and argued that the two inter-Korean summits and the North Korea-US summit in June had shifted the approach toward the North Korean issue toward the track of dialogue and a peaceful solution. “ASEAN in related ministerial meetings has provided a key platform where Korean Peninsula security issues have traditionally been discussed,” Kang said when asked how ASEAN could help achieve complete denuclearization and establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. “I think the messaging at that forum last year was a very powerful one.” “Unity of the messaging in further encouraging North Korea to deliver on the denuclearization commitment will be very important,” Kang added. When asked about the likely challenges facing North Korea’s denuclearization, Kang acknowledged that this is a “tough” issue: “We are talking about a program that’s very advanced and I think just technically it will be very time-consuming and needing a great deal of focus.” “So for them to remove that rationale [behind their nuclear program], they need some other forms of security guarantee, and this is what North Korea is asking,” Kang said. Returning to a theme from the previous day, Kang emphasized the need for “denuclearization on the one hand and security guarantees on the other” and explained that “the discussion, going forward, is how do you trade elements of one with the other.” When asked about her experience as South Korea’s first female foreign minister, Kang pointed out that she is the 38th foreign minister, but the first to be female, which “brings a lot of expectations.” Kang added that she feels “a lot more responsibility in meeting those expectations.” By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
