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White House National Security Advisor John Bolton
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White House national security advisor to meet with S. Korean and Japanese counterparts
White House National Security Advisor John Bolton will be visiting South Korea early next week – shortly before the second North Korea-US summit – for a meeting with Blue House National Security Director Chung Eui-yong and Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi, the Hankyoreh has confirmed. This will be the first meeting between the three countries’ top national security officials that has been reported since they met in San Francisco on Apr. 17, 2018, shortly after Bolton was appointed to his position. The news of Bolton’s visit was confirmed by senior officials in the South Korean ruling party on Feb. 21. CNN also quoted two US government officials in a Feb. 20 report saying that Bolton would be visiting South Korea prior to the North Korea-US summit, which will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27-28. Though the exact reason for the meeting of the three top national security officials has not been announced, the three countries presumably intend to coordinate their agenda prior to the summit. Bolton is also likely to have a separate meeting with Chung in which the two officials can share their opinions about the summit. South Korean President Moon Jae-in mentioned inter-Korean economic cooperation as a way to compensate North Korea for its denuclearization during a telephone call with US President Donald Trump on Feb. 19, and that’s expected to be the focus of Bolton and Chung’s discussion. Considering that Bolton accompanied Trump to his summit in Singapore in June 2018, he’s likely to head to Hanoi after concluding his deliberations in South Korea. Considering that Bolton is a hardliner on North Korea, some think he’s attempting to tighten the reins on the aspects of the summit agenda that are connected to inter-Korean relations. The Washington Post quoted an anonymous official as saying that Bolton has expressed worries in private meetings that US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and his team are too eager to make a deal with North Korea. The official was also quoted as saying that Bolton still thinks the negotiations will fail. But another diplomatic source in Washington said that there’s no need to attribute any special significance to Bolton’s visit. “South Korea and the US are probably just trying to review things on the level of their national security councils before the summit,” the source said. “Since Bolton has avoided steps that would signal overt rebellion against Trump, he probably won’t attempt to sabotage the negotiations right before the North Korea-US summit. He’s likely to act as a referee in the South Korea-Japan security dispute prior to the North Korea-US negotiations while discussing economic cooperation with South Korea and potential North Korea-Japan talks with Japan and pushing for trilateral cooperation to prevent China and Russia from getting involved,” said Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies. In related news, Trump suggested on Feb. 20 that his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might not be the last one. “We started off with a very good meeting, and I think we’ll continue that along. I don’t think this will be the last meeting by any chance,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. These comments give the impression that Trump is taking a long-term, step-by-step approach to his negotiations with North Korea over denuclearization and a peace regime. “The sanctions are on in full. As you know, I haven’t taken sanctions off. I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful on the other side,” Trump said. By saying that he would like to lift sanctions, Trump appeared to be pushing Kim Jong-un to take measures for denuclearization. By Park Min-hee, Kim Ji-eun and Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporters, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
