[South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke to Pompeo by telephone Saturday and expressed regret over the cancellation of the trip while calling for continued talks on peace and North Korea’s nuclear program, according to the ministry.]
By Simon Denyer, Bureau chief Amanda
Erickson, Reporter Min Joo Kim
TOKYO
— South Korea’s Foreign
Ministry on Saturday urged Washington and Pyongyang not to walk away from the
negotiating table despite the unexpected cancellation of U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea.
President Trump called off Pompeo’s visit
Friday, just days before the secretary was due to arrive in Pyongyang, citing
insufficient progress in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The
abrupt shift in Trump’s public position appeared to surprise many people in
Asia but did not come as a complete shock — many observers had sensed that
negotiations between the two sides had stalled.
North Korea did not immediately react to the
announcement. But South Korea sought to play down concerns.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha
spoke to Pompeo by telephone Saturday and expressed regret over the
cancellation of the trip while calling for continued talks on peace and North
Korea’s nuclear program, according to the ministry.
“Rather than reading into each and every turn
in the situation, it is more important to focus diplomatic efforts on the
faithful execution of what has been agreed in the United States-North Korea
summit and the inter-Korean summit, while maintaining the momentum for talks on
the long-term outlook,” the ministry said in a statement.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono expressed
appreciation for Pompeo’s “prompt communication” of the decision by telephone
and said the two countries would continue to work together to take “specific
actions” to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
From China, though, there was silence. The
only reports of Trump’s decision in state media relayed the news without
commentary — and without mentioning that the president had partly blamed the
Chinese government for difficulties in talks with Pyongyang.
In tweets, Trump argued that because of his
“tougher Trading stance,” the Chinese were not “helping with the process of
denuclearization as they once were.”
“Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to
North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with
China is resolved,” Trump tweeted. “In the meantime I would like to send my
warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him
soon!”
Experts have said that China continues to
broadly enact U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea but has eased
up on enforcement at the border in recent months. China also has been allowing
more Chinese tourists to visit North Korea this year, as relations between the
two countries have improved significantly.
But Chung Min Lee, a senior fellow at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said that China is
not responsible for the impasse between the United States and North Korea.
Trump “overplayed the gains” from his Singapore summit with North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un and needed someone else to blame, Lee said.
Only now does Trump realize that North Korea
did not intend to give up its nuclear weapons, at least not as soon as he
wanted, Lee said.
Trump is, however, right in one sense,
experts said. His trade war with China has caused considerable anger in Beijing
and makes it unlikely that the government there could be persuaded to cooperate
if the United States wants to return to exerting “maximum pressure” on North
Korea’s economy.
“It’s difficult, what Trump is trying to do,”
Lee said. “He is trying to punish China on trade . . .
At the same time, he wants China’s help.”
Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea expert at
the Sejong Institute, a government-affiliated think tank in Seoul, said Trump
has the will to resolve the North Korea situation but lacks a coherent
strategy.
“On his last visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo
reportedly demanded a list of nuclear sites in North Korea without suggesting
any plans for compensation in return,” Cheong said. “North Korea is aware that
the list reveals all their cards to the U.S., and they won't do so without any
tangible promise from Washington. The demand for the timeline of
denuclearization must come with the timeline for rewards.”
Cheong said the cancellation of Pompeo’s
visit put the ball in the court of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is
due to visit Pyongyang in September and could play a role in facilitating
negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.
But it could also strengthen China’s hand,
with President Xi Jinping widely expected to attend Pyongyang’s Sept. 9
celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea.
“If Xi can produce a meaningful agreement
with Kim Jong Un on his September visit to Pyongyang, China will get a boost in
the diplomacy game by taking on the role the U.S. failed to play,” Cheong said.
Park Jie-won, a former special envoy of
former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung who has met North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un and his late father, Kim Jong Il, also warned Trump not to walk away
from dialogue.
“If this chance is missed, the future of
North Korea will darken towards immense chaos. The leaders of North Korea and
the U.S. should go back to Sentosa, Singapore,” he posted on his Facebook page
Saturday.
Read more: