“Biden team knows North Korea well… deep doubts about the will to denuclearize”

“Biden team knows North Korea well… deep doubts about the will to denuclearize”

by
Evan Medeiros, former White House National Security Council (NSC) Senior Advisor for Asia. [중앙DB]

Evan Medeiros, former White House National Security Council (NSC) Senior Advisor for Asia. [중앙DB]

Evan Medeiros, former White House National Security Council (NSC) senior assistant in charge of Asia, said on the 20th (local time) “The Biden team has deep doubts that North Korea is interested in denuclearization.” Joe Biden in a video interview with JoongAng Ilbo on the day of the inauguration of the US administration.

Interview with Former White House NSC Senior Advisor Evan Medeiros
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He, who worked at the White House during the Barack Obama administration, emphasized Biden’s diplomatic and security team as a’Korean peninsula veteran’ who knows both North Korea and South Korea well. In particular, he said, “I have a lot of experience and do not have fantasies” about North Korea.

As a result, he said, “We will take a very cautious approach to the North Korean nuclear issue.” He said, “I will be able to make a relationship,” he said, “but we need to adjust our view of North Korea.”

Medeiros also collaborated with Biden, who was vice president of the Obama administration. Prior to Vice President Biden’s visit to Korea in November 2013, he visited Korea and coordinated the agenda in advance.

The following are questions and answers.

During Obama’s days, bureaucrats entered the Biden administration. Will the policy stance toward North Korea follow that time?

Biden’s team went through several cycles with North Korea. It goes back to the 2010 Cheonan incident. We know how North Korea moves and uses provocations to get concessions and draw attention. So I think I won’t fall into a trap. At the end of the Obama administration, they cooperated with the South Korean government to implement a policy of strong pressure on North Korea. However, the North Korean nuclear issue is in a different position. The situation facing North Korea has also changed. The policy will be reviewed extensively and will be approached very carefully and carefully. If you decide that humanitarian aid is right, you will. However, it should not be misinterpreted as a signal to return to conversation. This is because the Biden team has deep and deep doubts that North Korea is interested in denuclearization.

The Moon Jae-in administration in South Korea wants the Biden administration to succeed Trump’s North Korea policy.

There are many bureaucrats in Biden’s team with deep experience in North Korean affairs. They also know the US-Korea relationship well. President Moon’s perspective and the liberal policymakers around him know well. Biden’s team believes that they can recreate a sustainable relationship with Moon’s Jae-in team.

Former Blue House National Security Officer Eui-yong Chung, who served as a messenger between North and South America during Trump, was appointed as the foreign minister.
A really very interesting drama will unfold.

Looking at the relationship between Korea and the US in the Biden era.
In the Biden administration, Kurt Campbell, Tony Blingen, and Jake Sullivan are among others who know the importance of US-Korea relations empirically, theoretically and practically. These are different from Trump. With his own agenda, Trump tried to kill the ROK-US alliance and remove US troops from the Korean Peninsula. So, North Korea’s nuclear talks were also held. They also made aggressive demands regarding the sharing of defense costs. All of this disappears in the Biden administration. However, Korea and the United States need to adjust their views on North Korea. I think this is a problem that can be solved enough. From the perspective of placing an emphasis on the middle class, Biden will not demand renegotiation of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Korea has little to worry about.

What changes are there in public policy? “President Trump’s public hardline was right,” said Secretary of State-nominee Tony Blincoln.
I think there will be the same and different points at the same time. Blincoln is not Mike Pompeo. He won’t argue. He is not a confrontational person. There is a deep belief in American values, but it is not ideological. I think we will compete more seriously than simply confront China.

Specifically, in what field will you compete?

There will be four major fields. First, in the field of diplomacy and security, there are Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong issues, and the modernization of the Chinese military. Second is the economy. It is related to the way the Chinese government operates its own economy and discriminates against foreign companies such as the United States and Korea. The third is technology. It is a matter of China’s attempting to dominate the core technologies of the future through illegal means, maintaining the technological superiority of the United States, and gaining an upper hand in new technologies. Fourth is the question of value. You will compete for basic values ​​such as rules and norms, belief in institutions, political and civil liberties and democracy.

Can’competition and cooperation’ issued by the Biden administration be compatible?
We can cooperate in climate change, COVID-19, the global economy, and sometimes non-proliferation. Whether competition and cooperation can coexist will be a key challenge. Theoretically, the US and China can compete while cooperating if they benefit the national interests of the two countries. But in reality, it won’t be easy. The history of the Cold War shows that cooperation and competition are very difficult to achieve at the same time.

The Biden administration said it would promote the’democratic summit’. What’s different from the Trump administration’s demand for participation in public pressure.
We fully understand that many countries around the world have China as their largest trading partner or major trading partner. So it makes no sense to force you to choose between the US and China. The democracy summit is not about beating China or Russia. Participating here does not mean choosing between the US and China. It is advocating for the values ​​and principles we believe in. Things like prosperity and security, rule of law and peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect for international law. Korea is the proof of that success.

There was also mention that “diplomacy should make life better for the American middle class.” Sounds similar to Trump’s “American First”.
It is an innovative method for foreign policy. To admit that the world has changed and the role of the United States in the world has changed. When the United States implements global economic policy, especially trade policy, there is a need to further promote the interests of the middle class, workers and consumers. In the past, the US embraced globalization so quickly that global corporations and big-handed investors benefited, but workers or middle-class consumers did not. The United States is modifying its traditional diplomatic interests so that it can benefit them.

If you explain more specifically.
Suppose a large American insurance company sold more insurance in China. That’s good for the big insurance company and shareholders, but it doesn’t help American workers and consumers much. However, a trade policy that promotes manufacturing exports is helpful. Barriers could be lowered so that the U.S. exports a lot of airplanes, trains and high-tech equipment to the world, and that U.S. manufacturers can be more efficient.

Does it include allowing foreign companies to establish more production bases in the US?
I think it can and should be. Although a politically sensitive issue, the United States has succeeded in incorporating Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and some Chinese manufacturing industries into the United States over the years. Of course I think so.

What do you think is the key message that President Biden tried to convey in his inauguration address?
It was essentially a message of tolerance and integration. Although 74 million Americans did not vote for themselves, they said they would still represent them. President Biden’s goal is to embody the basic ideals upon which the nation of the United States was established.

Washington = Correspondent Park Hyun-young [email protected]

☞ Evan Medeiros = This is the brain that led Asian policy at the White House during the Barack Obama administration. While serving as a senior assistant in charge of Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), he designed the’Asia-Pacific Rebalancing Strategy’, the main strategy of the Obama administration. The strategy of rebalancing to put massive amounts of U.S. capacities into the Asia-Pacific region in response to the rise of China has since been passed on by the Trump administration and the Biden administration. Currently, he is a professor at Georgetown University in the United States.


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