Diplomacy: Politics: News: Hankyoreh

In the wake of the turmoil and division left behind by the Trump administration, Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States. President Biden read a 21-minute inauguration address to the world at a podium in front of the Washington Capitol on the 20th at 11:52 am (local time). In his inauguration address that day, President Biden appealed for two things. The first was the message of’unity’ to heal the conflict in American society, which was shattered by anger and hatred toward each other, and the second was the need for’rebuilding the alliance’ to appease major countries that were hurt by former President Trump’s’American priority’. President Biden said, “We will restore the alliance and once again engage the world. We will lead (the world) not simply by showing power, but by showing example. We promised to be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and safety.” He made it clear that he would put the’alignment-oriented line’, which has been identified as a general theory, as the first priority in US foreign policy and put it into practice. The issue most noticed by Koreans who wish for’lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula’ is the policy toward North Korea that the Biden administration will bring forward. Unfortunately, President Biden did not specifically mention the Korean Peninsula in his inauguration address. For hints on what policy the Biden administration will take toward North Korea, we need to take a look at Secretary of State’s nominee Tony Blincoln’s comment on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearing on Wednesday. The North Korean nuclear-related question was raised at the personnel hearing held at 2 pm on that day. However, there was no in-depth discussion due to other issues such as the US’s public policy and the public dong policy. Senator Ed Maki (Democrats) was the only one inquiring about the North Korean nuclear issue, and the time between questions and answers was only three to four minutes of the total four-hour hearing.

Then, shall we take a closer look at the remarks made by the nominee of Secretary of State Blincoln? First, Congressman Maki asks Blincoln if he supports the idea of ​​a’phased agreement’ exchanging’proven freeze’ and’sanctions easing’ of the North Korean (nuclear) arms program for the final goal of North Korea’s denuclearization. To define exactly what the’verified freeze’ that Congressman Maki refers to is a very long debate between the US and South Korea and the US. And considering the past history of the North Korean nuclear negotiations, the talks may break down at the stage of defining this term. For now, let’s skip the discussion of this challenge and listen to the Blingan nominee’s answer. After avoiding immediate answers, the Blincoln nominee reveals the following principle:

I think we should review the full approach and policies we have taken toward North Korea, and I intend to review it. After all, this is a difficult problem that has suffered many administrations, and this problem has not only been improved, but has actually gotten worse. I’ll start by acknowledging that this is a very difficult one to start with. So what we’re going to do, and welcome, is that we can reconsider and discuss what options we have and whether it is effective to intensify pressure in terms of bringing North Korea to the negotiating table, or whether other diplomatic approaches are possible. We will start by examining all options with our allies and partners, especially Korea, Japan and other countries.

There are three main lessons we can learn from this remark. First, for the Biden administration, which has just come to power, solving the North Korean nuclear issue is not a top priority. The Biden administration has to deal with the challenge of how to deal with China, which is struggling for future supremacy. Key figures in the Biden administration say that they will cooperate with global challenges such as responding to COVID-19 and climate change that need China’s help while inheriting the large framework of the’Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’ (FOIP) promoted by the Trump administration. Has been revealed. Next, we need to formulate a new Middle East policy, such as the’Iran Nuclear Agreement’, which President Biden directly intervened as Vice President. The Iranian nuclear agreement, which was unilaterally destroyed by the former Trump administration in the Biden administration, is an important legacy to revive, but the North Korean nuclear issue, which the Trump administration has achieved in its own way, is only a daunting dilemma. Keeping this in mind, the Korean government should strengthen strategic communication so that the North Korean nuclear issue becomes the top priority diplomatic task for the United States. Second, nominee Blincoln made it clear that they would consult with South Korea in the process of establishing a North Korean nuclear policy. Another positive comment is that North Korea has announced that it will look into not only the hardline measures to’strengthen pressure’ to come to the dialogue, but also if there are other diplomatic options. In this regard, President Moon Jae-in said at a New Year press conference on the 18th that it would be a good idea to use the “Singapore Agreement” left by the Trump administration on June 12, 2018 as a starting point for North Korea-US dialogue. It seems unlikely that the Biden administration will accept this as it is, but since it said it was consulting with Korea, I will listen seriously to the Korean government’s arguments. In the future, it should be noted how productively Candidate Eui-yong Eui-yong and Chief National Security Officer Seo Hoon of the Blue House will communicate with Blincoln’s counterparts and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Third, Blincoln’s nominee said he would consult not only with Korea but also with Japan to finalize the policy toward North Korea. The first phase of the’Korean Peninsula Peace Process’, which began in early 2018, was virtually stopped through the’Hanoi No Deal’ on February 28, 2019. In this process, the fact that Japan, which was concerned about’passing Japan’, played a very negative role, has already been fully disclosed in the memoirs of former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe communicated with President Trump from time to time, such as playing golf all day long, and continued to instill an opinion that “You should not make hasty concessions to North Korea.” Japan’s attitude toward North Korea is due to a’strategic difference’ that is difficult to reconcile between Korea and Japan, but it is also largely attributable to the fact that relations between the two countries deteriorated to the worst level in history at this time and there was no opportunity for open communication with each other. No matter how hard Korea persuades the United States to restart the’peace process on the Korean Peninsula’, if Japan stubbornly opposes it, it will be difficult for the United States to decide easily. In the Indo-Pacific region, the first alliance of the United States is Japan, and Korea is the second alliance that follows. In order to improve inter-Korean relations and promote North Korea-US dialogue to create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, we must enlist Japan as well as the United States. Furthermore, we must cooperate closely with China. Looking at these points, the Biden administration’s approach to North Korea is not a’top-down’ through Trump-style bilateral dialogue, but a’bottom-up’ multilateral dialogue that actively cooperates with related countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. It can be predicted. Can the Moon Jae-in administration, one year and four months before the end of his term of office, solve this difficult and difficult high-dimensional equation? It cannot be said that the outlook is bright, but we must do our best by all possible means. By Gil Yoon-hyung, staff reporter [email protected]