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South Korean President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump
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Tells S. Korean authorities to “mind their own internal business”
The director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Department of American Affairs named three conditions that would have to be met for North Korea-US negotiations to resume. He also said that South Korean authorities should “mind their own internal business” regarding North Korea-US dialogue. On June 27, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on a statement issued by Kwon Jong-gun, director-general of the Department of American Affairs of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, in which three conditions were given for the resumption of negotiations. N. Korea demands “proper” approach, counterpart and counterproposal “Even though we are to think of holding a dialogue with the US, we need first to see a proper approach towards the negotiation on the part of the US. Negotiation should be conducted with a counterpart who has a good sense of communication, and it could also be possible only when the US comes up with a proper counterproposal,” Kwon said in the statement. On June 26, the KCNA reported on another North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s statement denouncing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others as “policymakers who have an inveterate antagonism towards the DPRK.” Stressing that the “parties to the DPRK-US dialogue are none other than the DPRK and the US,” Kwon said that South Korean authorities “have nothing to meddle [sic] in the dialogue” and stressed that “there will be no such a happening where anything will go through the South Korean authorities.” “The South Korean authorities are now giving a wide publicity as if the North and the South are having various forms of exchanges and closed-door meetings, but the reality is the contrary,” he continued. For now, the statement is being seen as part of a pressure campaign against Seoul ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit on June 29. At the same time, its argument disputing the basic trajectory of the Korean Peninsula peace process – which has unfolded as a “shared journey” by the South and North Korean and US leaders since the Panmunjom Declaration on Apr. 27 of last year – is raising questions about the motives behind it. In a joint written interview with Yonhap and five other global news agencies published on the afternoon of June 26, South Korean President Moon Jae-in described the Korean Peninsula Peace process as a “long journey that the leaders of South and North Korea and the US are taking together.” He also asserted that “dialogue toward the continuation of dialogue is taking place through various channels between South and North.” A Ministry of Unification senior official said, “The fact that the statement came from the director of the Department of American Affairs indicates that the message’s chief target is the US, not South Korea.” By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter, and Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
