S. Korea’s top diplomat calls for ‘flexibility’ in denuclearization talks

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday called for “flexibility” and a “different approach” in efforts to draw up a road map for the denuclearization process as North Korea and the US continue negotiations to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

Her call for flexibility in the negotiation process comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit Pyongyang on Sunday and meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to push forward the US-North Korea denuclearization talks. 

“It is necessary to match denuclearization steps with corresponding measures demanded by North Korea with flexibility to achieve denuclearization,” Kang said at a press conference, adding the US shares the idea.

“We need to take a different approach from the past to achieve complete denuclearization,” she said, stressing that building trust and improving relations between the US and North Korea are crucial to leading the North to denuclearize.

Her emphasis on a different approach from the past comes in line with her suggestion that the US delay a demand for an inventory of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, in a departure from the traditional sequence of the denuclearization process.

Kang said during an interview with the Washington Post that the US would declare an end to the Korean War, a key demand of Pyongyang, in exchange for the verified dismantlement of the North’s key nuclear complex in Yongbyon. Demanding a list at the outset risks derailing negotiations in a subsequent dispute over verification, according to Kang.

North Korea might want to voluntarily dismantle the facilities at its own discretion and open them up for inspection by international experts to verify that it has destroyed them, analysts say, while the US continues to demand a full inventory of nuclear warheads and facilities first, followed by a broader range of inspections.

Kang said that Pompeo’s upcoming visit to North Korea could offer a detailed picture of the denuclearization process -- what corresponding measures could be taken by the US and when the North could provide an inventory of its nuclear weapons programs, for example.

North Korea offered to dismantle its major nuclear complex in Yongbyon if the US took “corresponding measures,” at the inter-Korean summit last month.

In Pyongyang, Pompeo is expected to discuss what concessions it will make in return for the North’s steps to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear compound and to explore the possibility of the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

Seoul views the planned visit by Pompeo as a “positive sign” of progress in the US-North Korea talks.

When it comes to the end-of-war declaration, the US now has a better understanding of why South Korea seeks to declare an end to the Korean War within the year, Kang said, adding “other corresponding measures” could be on the table.

North Korea has called for an end-of-war declaration by the US, but it has increasingly made clear it wants more than that in return for dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear compound -- namely, sanctions relief.

When it comes to the easing of sanctions against North Korea, Kang reiterated that Seoul will push for inter-Korean projects without undermining the international sanctions regime aimed at cutting off funds for the North’s nuclear and missile developments.

“To push for inter-Korean projects, when necessary, Seoul will request a sanctions exemption, but it doesn’t mean sanctions will be relieved,” she said.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)