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SEOUL – South Korea and the United States are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. Washington is keeping up the pressure and Seoul is seeking to ease sanctions and reduce the isolation of the North.
After coordinating diplomatic engagements – notably at the June summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – the discord on the next steps reflects the contradictory goals of the allies.
The South Korean authorities have intensified their economic relations with the north of the country, to face the resistance of their American counterparts, who claim that Mr. Kim has taken no concrete action to give up his nuclear weapons.
The two Koreas announced this week their intention to connect their road and rail networks next month. The two countries have also recently reopened a joint liaison office in the North for which South Korea provides fuel and electricity.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has engaged with Kim at the September summit meeting in Pyongyang to strengthen cooperation under the chairmanship of four South Korean conglomerates. He also called on the United States this week to lift sanctions to "encourage North Korea to speed up" denuclearization and provide more humanitarian aid. Moon is also expected to welcome Kim to Seoul later this year as part of a North Korean leader's first visit to the southern capital.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, center left, and Mr. Kim, along with their wives, attended a gymnastic and artist show in Pyongyang last month.
Photo:
Press corps of Pyeongyang / Zuma Press
The pace of inter-Korean détente is worrying US officials, who blame the sanctions campaign for bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table and fear that any loosening could jeopardize Washington's influence in the disarmament negotiations.
"South Koreans do not seem to care about keeping us informed," said an American diplomat.
American diplomats feared that the Liaison Office would violate the sanctions. Seoul says the concerns are unfounded. The US Treasury Department last month warned South Korean banks against the sanctions imposed in case of a violation of the sanctions imposed on North Korea, announced the quasi-official Yonhap news agency.
President Trump angered many South Koreans last week by informing the press that Seoul is not lifting the sanctions without Washington's blessing.
"They do nothing without our approval," Trump said after learning that South Korea's foreign minister had raised the possibility of lifting the sanctions imposed on the country in 2010.
As another sign of US efforts to maintain pressure on Pyongyang, the State Department has recently begun to prevent US aid workers from traveling to North Korea to provide medical and food assistance. This initiative aims to squeeze the north in anticipation of a follow-up summit between MM. Trump and Kim in the coming months, have said people familiar with the subject.
The contradictory approaches of the allies underline their different objectives.
For Moon, the son of North Korean refugees, the priority is peace with a neighbor. The possibility of a war that seemed so palpable last year when MM. Trump and Kim publicly exchanged antagonistic taunts pushed the South Korean leader to maintain the current détente.
The head of the North Korean delegation, Ri Son Gwon, second from the right, left this week a meeting with South Korean officials in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas this week, after accepting a plan for connecting their paths. of iron.
Photo:
Associated press
For the United States, the priority is to return to the North Korean nuclear program, especially as Pyongyang demonstrated its ability last year to fire a long-range missile capable of reaching American cities.
"The fact that signs of disagreement are being exposed publicly means that there is a much deeper disagreement between US and South Korean officials at private meetings," said a former senior South Korean government official.
A flash point between the allies broke out last month. Seoul has suspended its intention to open the inter-Korean liaison office after Trump canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned visit to Pyongyang, complaining of insufficient progress in the denuclearization talks. A few days later, Seoul reversed the situation and opened an office, but did not consult adequately with the United States, said US diplomats, who privately complained to their South Korean counterparts.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha alluded to tensions between the United States and South Korea last week following a report on a tense phone call between she and Mr. Pompeo. "He expressed many questions regarding the notion that he had not been adequately informed of the situation," Ms. Kang said during a hearing on the agenda of the meeting. legislature.
A South Korean foreign affairs official said this week that Seoul will continue to coordinate its work with the United States on sanctions imposed by North Korea and avoid unnecessary controversy.
"Husband and wife have constant disagreements – about the school that children should attend at home," South Korean presidential office spokeswoman Kim Eui-kyeom said on Wednesday in response to concerns about lack of staff. coordination between the two allies. "But they do not divorce for that sort of thing."
At the same time, North Korea has called for sanctions relief, accusing Washington of "playing a double game" by tightening sanctions against humanitarian and other targets, even after Mr M's cordial meetings. Pompeo with Mr. Kim at a reprogrammed meeting in Pyongyang. month.
Chun Yung-woo, former South Korean national security advisor and former chief negotiator of his country during the six-party talks, warned that a too quick release of sanctions would prevent Pyongyang from giving up its nuclear weapons .
"Abandoning the sanctions, is renouncing the denuclearization," said Chun, currently chair of the non-governmental forum on the future of the Korean Peninsula in Seoul.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at [email protected] and Andrew Jeong at [email protected]
