Trump administration reportedly considering economic package as denuclearization incentive

US President Donald Trump meets with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), and his delegation at the White House on Jan. 19. Representing the US are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (second from right) and State Department Special Representative for North Korean Policy Stephen Biegun (far right). (Dan Scavino’s Twitter account)

Washington Times reports US initiative focus on winning pledges from S. Korea, Japan and EU

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering an inter-Korean economic cooperation “package” ahead of a second North Korea-US summit as an incentive for North Korea’s denuclearization. With bilateral working-level talks for the summit also predicted to resume shortly, the two sides appear to be gearing up to hasten their summit preparations.

In a Jan. 28, the conservative-leaning Washington Times reported that the Trump administration “is quietly preparing a special ‘economic package’ designed to entice North Korean leader Kim Jong-un into taking specific steps toward dismantling his nuclear weapons program.” Citing sources familiar with the plan, the newspaper reported that the initiative was spearheaded by State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who heads negotiations with Pyongyang for the US side.

According to the report, the initiative is focused on winning pledges from South Korea, Japan, and the EU to provide billions of dollars in cash contributions for use toward North Korean social infrastructure and development projects. Support within the Trump administration for providing “incentives” to Kim has reportedly emerged after the failure to make concrete progress with the denuclearization process since the two leaders’ summit in Singapore last June.

According to sources in the diplomatic affairs, ideas centering on inter-Korean economic cooperation are reportedly being examined as a way of fleshing out the vision of a “bright” post-denuclearization future for the North, as Trump has referred to on several occasions.

The Washington Times also reported that the initiative includes creating a kind of “escrow account” as proof that the US and its allies will reward North Korea economically if it proceeds with denuclearization. But foreign affairs analysts questioned whether the approach would be realistic. The term “escrow” refers to keeping documents or cash in storage until a contract has been fully executed. To achieve its past nuclear deal with Iran, the US used US$1 billion (around 1.1 trillion won) that had been confiscated through sanctions.

Biegun and Kim Hyok-chol to meet this weekend at the earliest

At the same time, working-level talks for a second North Korea-US summit are reportedly poised to resume shortly. Biegun and former North Korean Ambassador to Spain Kim Hyok-chol will be meeting a second time after their introduction in Washington, DC, on Jan. 18.

According to multiple foreign affairs sources, Kim and Biegun are set to meet around the time of the Lunar New Year holiday and attempt to coordinate an “agenda” for the summit, including denuclearization measures and corresponding actions .

“It could start as early as this weekend,” one source predicted. During a Jan. 29 plenary session of the National Intelligence Committee, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon said the two “appear likely to begin practical preparations on matters such as security and protocol for the second North Korea-US summit, as well as agenda coordination to determine the content of the joint declaration text,” committee Chairperson Lee Hye-hoon said in a briefing.

Another question is whether the exact date and venue for the second summit will be finalized during the talks.

“My understanding is that there have been no changes to the timetable in terms of holding [the summit] in late February,” said another diplomatic source.

“The two sides don’t appear to have finished their final coordination on the exact venue,” the source added.

In connection with this, the US State Department announced that Biegun was scheduled to deliver a Jan. 31 talk on the US’ efforts toward North Korea’s “final, fully verifiable denuclearization (FFVD) at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Stanford also announced that Biegun would be have a conversation before the audience after the talk with Robert Carlin, a Korean Peninsula expert and researcher at the university’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. The Stanford Asia-Pacific Research Center is also where Korean-American and former CIA Korea Mission Center (KMC) Chief Andrew Kim has worked since retiring late last year from playing a pivotal role in behind-the-scenes coordination between Pyongyang and Washington.

Biegun’s aim appears to be openly reaffirming the US’ position and tweaking its strategy ahead of the working-level talks with North Korea.

Kyodo News reported that his counterpart Kim Hyok-chol is affiliated with the North Korean State Affairs Commission, which is led by Kim Jong-un. The agency quoted an anonymous foreign affairs source as saying Kim Jong-un was “sending one of his direct subordinates to conduct top-down negotiations.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent, and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [[e-mail]]