Over two weeks have passed since Chung Eui Yong, Director of the National Security Office, led a South Korean special delegation to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un. The news then broke that President Moon Jae In would have a summit with Kim at the end of April, with the delegation then continuing on to Washington DC, where it was decided that President Donald Trump would follow through with his own meeting with Kim Jong Un. The special delegation’s trip is being evaluated as a groundbreaking change in the state of relations on the Korean peninsula.
The planned US-NK and inter-Korean summits are likely to make headlines across the globe in the run-up to the meetings, but in truth, the most important aspect of the special delegation’s trip was the fact that North Korea expressed a willingness to denuclearize.
“North Korea made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military threat to the North was eliminated and its security guaranteed,” the South Korean delegation said. With such a precondition in place, the choices the regime elects to pursue in the near future remain to be seen. However, the statement has met the necessary requirements for the North to meet with the US President.
The turn of events mark a significant change from just weeks earlier, when the party-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper declared on February 23 that, “Wishing for North Korea’s denuclearization is more difficult than waiting for the ocean to dry out.”
North Korean media does not report on ‘willingness to denuclearize’
However, there has been no mention of the willingness to denuclearize in North Korea’s media to date, or the fact that the North’s stated willingness to denuclearize has enabled the meeting between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. The delegation’s visit was reportedly relatively brief, with KCNA TV coverage broadcasting a video of the meeting.
Nuclear weapons and economic improvement are the two pillars of the country’s byungjin line of development, and this policy is often repeated in state propaganda. The authorities have consistently announced that they will never surrender their nuclear weapons. It therefore puts the regime in a difficult position if it changes course entirely and expresses a willingness to discuss denuclearization.
Is changing tack too difficult?
A closer look at the history of North Korea’s behavior shows that the regime has periodically reversed its stance on key issues when it felt that the circumstances necessitated such a change. One example is the manner in which North Korea suspended and then returned to the Six Party Talks.
It is easier for a nation like North Korea to reverse its position on key issues than for a democratically-elected government to do so. The impoverished nation – lacking a free press – can simply announce that denuclearization of the Chosun Peninsula was the Great Leader’s (Kim Il Sung) dying wish, and it was decided that doing so was necessary in order to remove the US threat.
Objective assessment of North Korea’s true intentions needed
But if the regime is unafraid of reversing course in a public manner, why has it stayed quiet on the matter?
The fact that the North Korean leadership has not communicated a single word with regards to denuclearization since the special delegation’s meeting suggests that we need to view North Korea’s sincerity with scepticism. Rather than becoming elated over the upcoming North-South and US-NK meetings, calm and rational assessments are critically needed.
*Views expressed in Guest Columns are not necessarily those of Daily NK.
