Secondary to the Middle East? Biden talking on the phone with Sue, is it over the weekend?

The first normal call between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden is delaying. The Blue House did not announce the schedule of normal calls between Korea and the United States until the morning of the 29th.

The Blue House said, “We decided to discuss alliance issues and issues on the Korean Peninsula and globally based on close communication and cooperation between the United States and Korea with the inauguration of the new administration of the United States.” However, the US, the party of communication, has not confirmed and announced the normal call schedule to announce the start of cooperation between Korea and the US. Diplomats observe, “Isn’t the Korean peninsula issue out of priority for the United States?”

U.S. President Biden, who took office on the 20th, finished talking with the leaders of allies in Europe, starting with Canada on the 22nd. Following the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s secretary general and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide on the 28th. What they have in common is a country that can directly engage or influence the’China blockade strategy’ promoted by the United States. Some analysis suggests that the’first concern’ of US diplomacy is in China.

Past US presidents have reflected the priorities of their foreign policy in the order of their first normal currency. An exceptional example is the case of former President Obama, who made the first phone call with Middle Eastern countries.

If U.S. President Biden, who has so far focused on the Chinese issue, contacts the Middle East country first before South Korea, it can be interpreted that the Korean peninsula issue has been pushed from the’priority’ of US diplomacy to China and the Middle East.

In the case of former President Obama, who is from the US Democratic Party like Biden’s administration, the US-Japan and ROK-US normal talks were separated by five days, and throughout his tenure, he implemented a passive strategy toward North Korea called’strategic patience’. If President Biden makes a judgment similar to that of the Democratic Party’s administration in the past, it could impede President Moon’s plan to achieve results on the Korean peninsula within the remaining one-year term.

For this reason, the government has been preaching the importance of the Korean Peninsula issue to the Biden administration through official and informal channels even before the establishment of the Biden administration.

In fact, a high-ranking government official said in a call with the JoongAng Ilbo on the 11th, “Returning to the spirit of Singapore, Kim Jong-un and North Korea will return to the Biden US administration, which will soon be launched through the U.S. mid-level diplomacy and security communications that can closely connect the governments of both Korea and the United States. ㆍWe delivered a message saying, “Let’s resume conversation with the US.”

Nevertheless, as the summit between the US and South Korea is delayed, some diplomats are concerned that “Does not the communication between President Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the US and South Korean normal currency affects?”

There is no possibility that the currency will be pushed over the weekend to the beginning of next week.

The Blue House said, “Will there be calls soon?” and the order or timing of calls is not important.

Reporter Kang Tae-hwa [email protected]