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SEOUL, South Korea – Although North Korea does not abandon its nuclear weapons anytime soon, South Korea is literally rebounding this week with peace efforts with its rival, who was threatening the war there. a few months.
The friendly basketball games that ended Thursday in Pyongyang were 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 Friday.
It remains to be seen how rival Koreans 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 negotiations get bogged down, it could mean curtains for inter-Korean détente.
"The good-will gestures between the Koreas can be compared to a rocking chair – it feels good, but you do not really move," said Bong Young-shik, a North Korean expert on the subject. Yonsei University in Seoul "These actions are not enough to denuclearize the North and stabilize peace."
Basketball diplomacy follows agreements to send combined teams to Asian Games in August and 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 are considering Establish a Liaison Office, the process of restoring lines of communication that could defuse crises across their tense border, and in the longer term, Koreans have promised to improve the pathways and the roads of the North
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, southern minister of Unification, said last week that Seoul will try to facilitate civil exchanges in the coming months. Promote exchanges between South Korean and North Korean media.
He downplayed concerns over improving relations with easing sanctions and pressures on North Korea, saying that progress on these projects would depend on creating appropriate conditions.
Recognizing the existing sanctions, Seoul has refrained from offering joint economic projects, which Pyongyang wants the most, and has built its commitment around sport, culture and the arts. huma nitarian programs. However, even these programs could lose momentum if Pyongyang does not show a genuine interest in denuclearization soon, the experts said.
South Korea will try to stay 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 Donald Trump The declaration of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula being vague, it is now up to Pompeo to specify the details during follow-up discussions with North Korean officials.
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 the city of 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 announce to them a roadmap for denuclearization." For Moon, a return in 2017, when nuclear tests and Northern 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. By virtue of their "sun politics", Seoul's economic incentives led to temporary rapprochements and summits in 2000 and 2007 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un.
Kim Dae-jung's engagement with the North Korea was often a source of contention with the US administration of former President George W. Bush, and disagreements between Washington and Seoul continued during the US administration. Roh.
Moon is also liberal, but unlike his predecessors, it's not Choi said 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 lobbying campaign last year, which he now deserves for bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table. "1965" "1965" "Kim 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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Follow Kim Tong-hyung on Twitter @KimTongHyung
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