Ahead of the Summit, Moon Jae-in Calls for 'Dialogue with North Korea'... Will It Be a Benefit or a Harm?

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in strongly urged the United States to pursue ‘North Korea-US dialogue’ and ‘succession of the Singapore Agreement,’ drawing attention to how this stance might affect the upcoming South Korea-US summit scheduled for next month. While this can be seen as a strategic decision to include South Korea’s position in the new North Korea policy roadmap under review by the US, there are criticisms that the message lacks practicality as it is sent to the US, which is currently in conflict with China.

The New York Times recently reported on an interview with President Moon that included many words such as ‘urge’ and ‘warning.’ Although it reaffirmed President Moon’s usual views on the Korean Peninsula issue, the fact that the interview was conducted with the US media ahead of the South Korea-US summit next month means it can be fully interpreted as a message directed at President Joe Biden.

According to the report, President Moon urged in the interview that "North Korea and the US must sit down face-to-face as soon as possible," and even warned that "abandoning the Singapore Agreement would be a mistake." Amid dominant expectations that President Biden would completely change the North Korea policy stance of former President Trump, President Moon essentially urged Biden to succeed ‘Trump’s agreement.’ Regarding the deteriorating US-China relationship, President Moon said, "If the relationship between the superpowers worsens, it could undermine all negotiations for denuclearization," and added, "Cooperate with China on global issues including North Korea and climate change."

President Moon’s use of the interview format to send this message is interpreted as being due to the imminent announcement of the US government’s review of its North Korea policy. It is a strategy to reflect the government’s ‘Korean Peninsula peace process’ as much as possible in the US North Korea policy expected to be announced at the end of this month or early next month. Previously, South Korea and the US reached a consensus through the Foreign and Defense Ministers’ (2+2) meeting to establish a fully coordinated North Korea policy between the two countries. Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies analyzed, "It is an attempt to urge the Biden administration’s North Korea policy review centered on North Korea-US dialogue and to create an opportunity to expand the speed and scope of North Korea-US dialogue at the South Korea-US summit."

However, as the US-China conflict intensifies and North Korea-US dialogue also becomes strained, there are criticisms that such urging, warnings, and demands do not align with reality. Professor Kim Hyun-wook of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy said, "President Moon hopes to lead progress in the Korean Peninsula peace process and an early resumption of North Korea-US talks, but it does not seem easy under the current US-China conflict situation," adding, "That is why he emphasized cooperation between the US and China, but the Biden administration, which prioritizes ‘toughness on China,’ is unlikely to listen to proposals to return to a cooperative framework."