On the day of Biden’s inauguration, Eui-Yong Eui-Yong, Keyman of North Korea-US talks

On the 20th, President Moon Jae-in appointed Eui-yong Eui-yong, former head of the Blue House National Security Office (President’s Foreign Affairs and Security Special Affairs) as the new foreign minister. As the candidate for the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hwang-hee and the Democratic Party member, and Kwon Chil-seung were appointed as the candidate for the Minister of Small and Medium Venture Business. Chung Man-ho, chief of public communication, said, “Candidate Jung is the best expert who has devoted his life to the field of foreign affairs and security.” In addition, he said, “Candidate Hwang has demonstrated excellent policy planning skills, and Candidate Kwon has a deep understanding of the issues.”

Among the three ministries announced on this day, the replacement of Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo and Medium-term Minister Park Young-sun have been publicly discussed. However, there have been many observations that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha, the longest minister of the Moon Jae-in administration, will be excluded from this reorganization. A passport source said, “President Moon also thought about it until the end and decided it was almost the last time.” An official from the Blue House explained, “It is to inspire new vitality in the diplomatic line in line with the changes launched by the Biden administration.”

However, there are many skewed responses from diplomats. Candidate Chung, who served as the trade negotiation coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ambassador of Joshoneva, has a normal major. At the political level, especially in the field of security, his experience in diplomacy with the United States is actually concentrated in the Moon Jae-in government’s Blue House National Security Office for about three years.

In particular, Candidate Jung was at the center of the inter-Korean-US dialogue between 2018 and 2019. After visiting North Korea in March 2018, he met Kim Jong-un, chairman of the North Korean State Council, and immediately went to Washington to inform US President Donald Trump of his intentions for the North Korean-US summit. He also briefed reporters at the White House in person, saying, “Chairman Kim expressed his will to denuclearize and he wanted to meet President Trump early.”

The problem is that there has been no progress in denuclearization since, and Biden’s security team sees this series of processes negatively. Biden-elect criticized the North Korea-US summit last October as “giving legitimacy to the gang.” A source in the United States said, “In Washington, there is a strong view that Kim Jong-un tricked Trump, and Korea cannot be free from that responsibility. “It is a fact that everyone knows that Candidate Jung played a key role in the process.”

In a memoir published last year, former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, who was actually a counterpart of Candidate Chung, said in a memoir published last year, “Mr. Jung later admitted that it was he who suggested that Kim Jong-un first make such an invitation (North Korea-US summit).” At the time, Candidate Chung refuted that “memoirs are distortions different from facts.” When Candidate Jung becomes foreign minister, it is expected that the main task will be to persuade the Biden administration to succeed the Singapore agreement and resume dialogue with North Korea, as President Moon announced at a New Year’s press conference on the 18th.

However, US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said at a Senate approval hearing on the 19th (local time) that the North Korean nuclear situation was worsening and that “we will review the overall approach.” This is the reason why there are concerns that if Candidate Jung assumes the role of a’Singapore Declaration evangelist’ in the diplomatic process with the United States, side effects may occur in the alliance, as well as misunderstanding that this Insun was more centered on North Korea rather than the United States. Reuters also interpreted Chung’s internal administration as “part of an effort to revive dialogue with North Korea.”

On this day, President Moon appointed Kim Hyeon-jong, former second deputy head of the National Security Office, as the President’s Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs and Security, and Seoul International Relations Ambassador Kim Hyeong-jin, as the second deputy head of the National Security Office. New Deputy Deputy General Kim, who has served as North American Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary, is one of the leading US and North Korean nuclear weapons in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reporter Yoo Ji-hye [email protected]