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U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln’s first overseas itinerary, which drew attention, ended, including a trip to Japan and Korea and high-level dialogue between the United States and China. In this way, Secretary Blincoln, the command tower of US diplomacy, made relatively clear the’diplomatic direction’ of the Joe Biden administration, which will unfold over the next four years. In the future, the Biden administration is expected to check China with major alliances such as Korea-Japan, putting their values ​​such as’human rights’ to the fore. The US-China confrontation is a long-term, fundamental conflict that will determine the direction of the world order in the future. Watching the fierce confrontation that took place in Alaska on the 18th and 19th, I have an ominous feeling that the’US-China New Cold War’ can no longer be avoided. There is another challenge that must be solved for us living on the Korean Peninsula. It is the North Korean nuclear issue. Let’s ask ourselves at this point at the end of Blincoln’s visit to Korea. Can the Biden administration, which is currently reviewing its policy toward North Korea, initiate meaningful North Korea-US dialogue in the future? Looking at the progress of the first exploration war between North Korea and the United States last week, we can make some reasonable predictions. North Korea did not comment on this even after President Biden’s election was confirmed at the end of last year. North Korea, which has been silent for a while, talks about its future policy toward the United States at the 8th Labor Party Congress earlier this year. Chairman Kim Jong-un said in a report on the 8th Labor Party Consolidation (settlement) reported through a report on January 9, “External political activities are focused on subduing and subduing the main obstacle of the development of our revolution, the largest main enemy of the United States. We have to align and orient ourselves.” However, it is difficult to interpret this as saying that North Korea has expressed its intention to be unconditionally hostile to the United States.

At the 2nd North Korea-U.S. summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam on February 28, 2019, in exchange for abolishing’Yongbyon’, the symbol of North Korean nuclear weapons, North Korea tried to release a key part of UN sanctions, the biggest obstacle to economic development. However, this challenge ends in a dire failure. Then, a month and a half later, in April 2019, North Korea presents a new foreign strategy through the 14th First Meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Chairman Kim proposed a new economic development route as’self-rehabilitation’ in a municipal speech on April 12, the second day of the meeting, and poured out a fundamental demand for the US to withdraw its hostile policy. In a report on the 8th party conference held in early January, Chairman Kim also said, “The key to establishing a new US-ROK relationship is that the US withdraws its policy against the Joseon Dynasty. I will do it.” It means that if the United States puts down a policy of hostility against North Korea and treats it with good will, it will respond to it, but if it shows a strong attitude, it means that it will respond strongly. After this comment, North Korea refrains from commenting on the United States for a while.

North Korea’s silence, which lasted nearly two months, was broken because of a piece of foreign media that came ahead of Secretary of State Blincoln’s visit to Korea. A senior US government official, who requested anonymity, told the news on the 13th that there were attempts to contact the North Korean regime “through various channels including New York starting in mid-February,” but “so far, we have not received any response from Pyongyang.” . It was reported that the Biden administration tried to find out the exact intentions related to’denuclearization’ by contacting the North Korean side through various channels, including the North Korean delegation in New York, in the process of reviewing North Korea policy, but it did not get any results. White House spokesman Jen Saki said the report was true at a regular briefing on the 15th. Then, on the 16th, Kim Yeo-jeong, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Chosun Labor Party, who had been silent for a long time, delivered a discourse. Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong condemned North Korea’s repeated warnings of North Korea’s recurring warnings against North Korea, which is the core of the ROK-US combined military exercise since the 8th, and leaves a meaningful remark regarding the United States in the last part. This was the first time that North Korea directly referred to and criticized the “new administration” of the United States, the Biden administration.

While holding back the United States, which conducted ROK-U.S. joint exercises in support of South Korea, it seems to have warned that the United States may engage in a’military provocation’ if the United States does not change its current attitude. If North Korea initiates a strategic provocation to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as in 2017, the US will not be able to sleep comfortably.

On the 17th, the next day, the next day, the 1st Injury of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Choi Sun-hee appeared. First Injury Choi once again reaffirmed the North’s existing position that “no US-Korea contact or dialogue can be made unless the US policy of hostilities against the North Korean line is withdrawn.” I will ignore any contact attempts.” If you want to sit down seriously with the drum with him, you don’t forget to tell him to’watch your mouth’. It looks like the following.

Minister Blincoln’s “the world’s remarkable sophistry”, who was curious about First Injury Choi Sun-hee, pours out from the headlines of the Korea-US Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which began at 6:30 pm on the 17th. Secretary Blincoln commented on the human rights situation in China, adding that “the authoritarian regime in North Korea is committed to systematic and widespread abuse of its own people.” In addition, in the press conference held after the meeting of the Korean-US diplomatic and defense ministers on the 18th, the expression “denuclearization of North Korea” was adhered to instead of the term “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” agreed at the Singapore summit on June 12, 2018. He once again mentioned North Korean human rights and emphasized that “the North Korean people are being abused under the oppressive regime.” In the meantime, he expressed the view that “I think China can play a very important role” as well as allies such as Korea and Japan in solving the North Korean nuclear issue. These remarks by Secretary Blincoln can infer the Biden administration’s approach to North Korea in the future. First, unlike the former Trump administration, which took a pragmatic approach focused on the North Korean nuclear issue, it is clear that the Biden administration will proceed with fundamental negotiations that put the North Korean’human rights issue’ to the fore. Second, unlike the Trump administration, which tried to solve the problem through bilateral dialogue between the United States and North Korea, it can take a multilateral approach emphasizing the role of China as well as allies such as Korea and Japan. Third, considering that the term “denuclearization of North Korea” is adhered to, contrary to the hopes of the South Korean government, there is concern that the Singapore Joint Declaration will not be used as a starting point for North Korea-US dialogue. The essence of diplomacy is acknowledging the other’s existence and bringing about rational compromises. I am concerned that the Biden administration’s approach to North Korea is too ideological and fundamentalist. If you think that’I am good and the other is evil’, your diplomatic position will decrease and the likelihood of violent confrontation will increase. Will North Korea respond to the Biden administration’s approach to North Korea? That seems unlikely. So what will happen? As Vice President Kim Yeo-jung warned, North Korea’s provocation could create a situation where the United States would “get a little sleepy”. The United States can face this and face’the greatest pressure’. If so, the relationship between North Korea and the United States will go back to before 2017. It is the role of the Korean government to prevent this situation, but it is also true that we are worried about the direction of the situation on the Korean Peninsula in the future. By Gil Yoon-hyung, staff reporter [email protected]