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(SEOUL, South Korea) – Despite the imminent absence of North Korea from abandoning its nuclear weapons, South Korea is literally bouncing back this week with peace efforts with its rival who was threatening the war a few months ago. Two days of friendly basketball games that end Thursday in Pyongyang have been the last gestures of goodwill between the Koreas in recent months. The women's and men's matches preceded the arrival of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in North Korea on Friday for two days of discussions on the future of the North's nuclear program.
A crowd of 12,000 applauded White sweaters reading "Peace" and green sweaters reading "Prosperity" – walked on the court holding hands. North and South players were mixed in teams for Wednesday's matches.
South Koreans play North Korean teams on Thursday before returning on Friday.
Remains to be known until Korean rivals can push their conciliatory steps. The fate of these efforts is ultimately linked to the progress of nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. If the nuclear talks get bogged down, it could mean curtains for inter-Korean détente.
"Goodwill gestures between the Koreas can be compared to rocking in a rocking chair – it feels good, but you do not really move," said Bong Young-shik, a North Korean expert on Yonsei University of Seoul. "These gestures are not enough to denuclearize the North and stabilize peace."
Basketball diplomacy follows agreements to send combined teams to the Asian Games in August and hold temporary meetings of aging parents separated by the 1950s-53 Korean War
South Korean workers began this week to travel to the border town of Kaesong in North Korea to repair a building in a closed industrial park where rivals plan to establish a liaison office, the process of restoring lines of communication that could defuse crises across their tense border. have promised to improve the railways and northern roads.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who held high-profile summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, described peace. These efforts are crucial because Kim will not give up his nuclear weapons unless he thinks his safety is assured.
Cho Myoung-gyon, Minister of Southern Unification, said last week that Seoul will try to facilitate civil exchanges in the coming months. He downplayed concerns that improving relations would be accompanied by easing sanctions and pressures on North Korea, saying progress in inter-Korean projects would depend on the creation appropriate conditions.
Acknowledging the existing sanctions, Seoul refrained from proposing joint economic projects, which Pyongyang wants the most, and built its commitment around sport, culture and huma nitarian programs . However, even these programs could lose momentum if Pyongyang does not show a real interest in denuclearization soon, the experts said.
South Korea will try to keep in touch with the United States if diplomacy goes through a difficult period. The government of North Korea, which is constantly concerned about North Koreans' outreach to the outside world, would be just as likely to curb the goodwill gestures and exchanges it believes the economic and security benefits will not come soon.
Any significant reward from South Korea and the United States will depend on North Korea's ability to abandon nuclear weapons which it regards as its best guarantee of survival.
Last month's summit between Kim and President Donald Trump The declaration of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula being vague, it is now up to Pompeo to specify the details during the follow-up discussions with North American officials. Korean.
Choi Kang, vice president of Seoul's Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Trump's window to lock North Korea into a genuine denuclearization process may close as early as November if his Republican party loses the elections of the Congress, reducing the political influence of the administration. It is crucial that Pompeo leave Pyongyang with something substantial, he says.
"It would be difficult for Pompeo to release a calendar of North Korea this week, but he must at least get them to announce a roadmap for denuclearization," For Moon, a comeback in 2017, when the tests Nuclear and North missiles and Trump's bombastic tweets would elevate the animosity on the Korean peninsula to new heights, would be very difficult to swallow.
Moon, the son of North Korean war refugees, promised to build on the legacies of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. As part of their "sun politics", Seoul's economic incentives led to a rapprochement and temporary highs in 2000 and 2007 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un.
Kim Dae -jung Korea was often a source of contention with US administration of former President George W. Bush, and disagreements between Washington and Seoul continued during the Roh government.
Moon is also a liberal, but unlike his predecessors, he is not. Choi said that the South Korean president has worked to maintain a coordinated approach with Trump on North Korea. He remained firm on the sanctions and offered vocal support to Trump's campaign of pressure last year, which he now credits for bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table. "1965" "Moon is different from Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun". "He knows that real progress in inter-Korean relations can only be achieved through denuclearization."
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