Moon’s push for peace talks gains momentum

President Moon Jae-in’s push to revive denuclearization talks is expected to gain fresh momentum as he plans to hold in-person talks with senior US officials next week to discuss pending issues, including Washington’s ongoing policy review on North Korea.

On Wednesday, the two governments announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Seoul on March 17-18 after a three-day visit to Tokyo in their first overseas trip since the launch of the Biden administration.

The so-called “two-plus-two” meeting of the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries is being revived for the first time in almost five years, since the gathering was suspended under Trump administration’s “America First” policy.

Cheong Wa Dae officials said they are arranging a meeting between Moon and the visiting officials, during which the president is expected to reaffirm his will to resume nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang based on stronger ties with the US and other allies. 

“The two-plus-two meeting has a symbolic meaning for a stronger Korea-US alliance, adding speed to Moon’s push for the Korea peace process,” said Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.

When Biden took office in January amid a pile of seemingly more urgent domestic and foreign affairs issues, there were concerns here that the Korean Peninsula issue may not be prioritized, leaving little room for Moon’s mediating role in defrosting the collapsed US-North diplomacy.

Even after the new US security team announced it would review its North Korea policy, some critics had predicted it could take up to six months -- too late for Moon who enters his final year in office in May.

According to diplomatic sources and news reports, however, Washington is speeding up to finalize its review on North Korea, with its new policy likely coming sooner than expected – as early as April.

“It won’t take too much time for Washington to come up with a new North Korea policy,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on the condition of anonymity. “We have also delivered our opinions on possible solutions or the timing that could be reflected in the new policy.”

The official noted that appointing Sung Kim as the acting head of the State Department’s Asia bureau was aimed at accelerating the overall discussions given that it takes sometimes months to name a ranking official in Washington due to the complicated ratification process.

Shin, the analyst, added that even after the final policy comes out, fine tuning details will continue to come up with a joint strategy between the two countries, saying “Korea and the US still need to adjust their different stances on some tricky issues like sanctions relief for North Korea.”

Another agenda item during the talks is the possible advancement of a summit between Moon and Biden.

The leaders had already agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible during their first phone call in February. Still, the key factor is COVID-19.

Amid no clear signs of abating in new infection cases, both sides are cautious about holding an in-person summit involving a large-scale delegation consisting of hundreds of people.

For now, the leaders will have a chance to meet during the G-7 summit in the UK in June. Korea will be participating in the gathering of the seven nations as a guest nation, along with India and Australia.

But the multilateral meeting will offer limited openings for the leaders to talk in depth on specific issues like North Korea, with other heads of state competing to discuss their own priority issues with then new US president.

Of the G-7 leaders, Biden is the only one who has been vaccinated, while Moon plans to receive his jabs, possibly the two-dose regimen AstraZeneca vaccine, as early as next month before his G-7 trip.

Seoul officials said holding a virtual meeting is one option to advance the date. The leaders are also scheduled to meet during a climate change summit held online in Washington on April 22.

Biden has already held virtual summits with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts, while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is said to be seeking an in-person summit with the US president in April in Washington.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)