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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a press conference before departing for Saudi Arabia at the Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, on June 23.
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Biegun pushes back date of S. Korea visit to June 27
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed high hopes for a resumption of working-level talks with North Korea following President Donald Trump’s response to a personal letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Meanwhile, Stephen Biegun, the US State Department special representative for North Korea, was confirmed to have pushed his arrival date in South Korea back to June 27 after previous reports what he would visit on June 24 to attempt working-level communication with Pyongyang. Speaking to reporters on June 23 ahead of a visit to the Middle East, Pompeo said, “I am hopeful that this [letter from Trump to Kim] will provide a good foundation for us to begin to continue the important discussions with the North Koreans to denuclearize the [Korean] peninsula.” When asked by reporters whether he anticipated North Korea-US working-level talks resuming soon, Pompeo replied, “I hope so.” “We think we’re in a better place [than the second North Korea-US summit in] Hanoi,” he said, adding, “I think the remarks you saw out of North Korea this morning suggest that [North Korea-US working level talks] may well be a very real possibility.” “We’re literally prepared to begin at a moment’s notice if the North Koreans indicate that they are prepared for those discussions,” he continued. Pompeo’s remarks appeared to be based on Kim’s response to Trump’s letter – as reported by major North Korean news outlets on June 23 – being read as a positive signal. The Rodong Sinmun and other news outlets reported Kim as praising Trump’s “political judgment and extraordinary courage” in connection with the letter and saying he would “seriously contemplate the [letter’s] interesting content.” This response shared from Kim appears to have been interpreted as a signal of readiness to take action by the US, which is responding with an even stronger message of willingness to engage in dialogue. The next question is what happens after Biegun’s South Korea visit and during the South Korea-US summit scheduled for June 29–30. Multiple foreign affairs sources told the Hankyoreh that Biegun would be arriving in South Korea on June 27. Reports previously had Biegun scheduled to arrive five days ahead of Trump around June 24. Some previously mentioned the possibility that Biegun would arrive bearing a response letter from Trump and attempt to communicate with North Korea through the letter’s delivery. But with Trump’s response already having been passed along to Kim and the North Korean response reported in part, Biegun appears to have postponed his schedule now that there is no longer a need for him to visit ahead of time. It remains too soon to tell whether Biegun will hold working-level communications with the North as part of his South Korea visit. But the message that Biegun and Trump send to Pyongyang during their visits appears poised to serve as a gauge for the Korean Peninsula’s political situation for the second half of the year. Biegun previously sent a conciliatory signal to the North with his June 19 remarks on the need for a “flexible approach,” but did not provide specifics on what he was referring to. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
