Behind the curtain of Ri Son Kwon’s change of tune during high-level talks

Between the morning and afternoon hours of January 9, the day of the first high-level talks between North and South Korea in two years, North Korea’s lead delegate Ri Son Kwon underwent a curious metamorphosis. While it was reported in the South Korean press in the afternoon that Ri had allowed the South to mention denuclearization without any particular reaction, by the end of the day, he suddenly appeared incensed by the topic. What caused this sudden change in attitude?
 
Ri ‘perks his ears’
 
At the end of the morning session, the South Korean delegation answered questions from reporters about the content of the meeting. Responding to a question about whether the topic of denuclearization had been raised by the South Korean side and how the North Korean side may have responded, a delegate from the South said that the topic had been raised but there had been “no particular reaction” beyond their “ears perking up” at the mention. 
 
The use of such language by the South Korean side may have been the cause of the ensuing events. The description of their ears simply “perking up” could be interpreted as a soft reaction, responding courteously to talk of denuclearization by suppressing a reaction. It may also be that the South Korean delegate chose to soften the explanation of the North’s reaction in order to preserve an atmosphere of mutual goodwill that was established during the meeting and to not jeopardize mutual plans to see North Korea participate in the Pyeongchang Olympic Games. 
 
South Korean media reports on ‘denuclearization’ statement
 
But the situation began to change after South Korean news reports began to present the story as one where North Korea may have been open to talk of denuclearization. It appears that the North Korean delegation began to consider that officials in Pyongyang would be reading the negative press reports and criticizing their performance. 
 
At this point, it looked like Ri would have been censured by the central authorities, who would feel that he failed to reassert the country’s unwavering commitment to nuclear development in the face of the assertion in the South Korean press that they were somewhat receptive to talk of denuclearization. 
 
Ri’s statement during the closing remarks appear to suggest that he was indeed censured by Pyongyang authorities in the afternoon. Ri said in his closing remarks that “the South Korean media is spreading the absurd idea that denuclearization was seriously discussed during the talks” and that the progress made during the meeting “could be wasted if misleading reports continue to come out.” It looks like Ri was trying to communicate directly to Pyongyang his assertion that he at no time appeared ‘open’ to denuclearization, and that the South Korean media was being misleading in their reports.
 
But if Pyongyang was listening in on the meeting…
  
But North Korea’s United Front Department (UFD), who would have been the ones to censure Ri, was not independently running the talks. Other Pyongyang officials will have had a direct line into the meeting room in Panmunjom, and though there was no video feed, top officials in the capital surely were able to listen to the audio of the entire meeting. 
 
After hearing any such failure from Ri to react strongly to the South’s mention of denuclearization during the morning meeting, the UFD would have immediately called the North Korean delegation to demand that Ri make a strong statement clarifying the issue. But the UFD appears to have failed to immediately call on Ri to correct his mistake.
  
Shift due to Pyongyang?
 
In the afternoon hours of January 9, the Pyongyang authorities and others in the UFD were likely startled by swirling reports in South Korean media of Ri’s tepid reaction to the topic of denuclearization. The important point is that they all began to consider the fact that Kim Jong Un would be reading the South Korean reports in real time.
 
It quickly turned into a situation where, for the sake of their own survival, Ri and members of the UFD felt they had to come back with a tough response as soon as possible. This is what led to Ri’s break with decorum to make a separate, strongly-worded statement about the reports of his initial reaction to the topic of denuclearization. It could even be that Kim Jong Un was the intended audience for Ri’s statement. In fact, both sides could have been making their final statements more to their own supervisors than their counterparts across the table. 
 
‘Denuclearization’ a taboo subject
 
North Korea has shown how sensitive it is to the topic of denuclearization through the curious shift in Ri’s position from the morning to afternoon hours of the January 9 talks. They have made it clear that no matter an official’s rank, it is difficult to survive a mistake regarding this taboo subject. While South Korea continues to promote the idea of denuclearization on the way towards peaceful reunification, this incident reminds us just how difficult the path will be for the South Korean government.  
*Views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.