Senior Official Says "Cannot Rule Out Possibility of North Korea-U.S. Dialogue at Gyeongju APEC"

A senior government official stated on September 26 (local time) that the possibility cannot be ruled out that communication between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un may resume on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju at the end of next month.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the senior official met with Korean correspondents in New York on this day and said, "It is difficult to say definitively at this point, but I believe we cannot rule out such a possibility." The official added, "Dialogue between the leaders of North Korea and the United States is something that can happen, and we will watch with hope that it does."

During his first term, President Trump made an unscheduled visit to South Korea after attending the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Japan in June 2019, and held a surprise meeting with Chairman Kim at Panmunjom. This Panmunjom meeting took place just one day after the so-called 'Hanoi No Deal' incident in February of the same year, which ended North Korea-U.S. talks in a breakdown. The official appears to be leaving open the possibility that North Korea-U.S. dialogue could take place in a similar manner this time as well.

Such remarks indicate a shift in the government's stance regarding the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue. Previously, National Security Office Director Wi Sunglak appeared on a radio program on August 29 and expressed a skeptical view about the possibility of North Korea-U.S. or inter-Korean-U.S. dialogue, saying, "It is actually more constructive not to set expectations too high." However, after Chairman Kim expressed on September 21 that he "personally has fond memories of the current U.S. President Trump" and indicated his willingness to engage in dialogue, expectations within the government seem to have risen.

However, Chairman Kim's statement set 'North Korea's abandonment of denuclearization' as a precondition for dialogue, so the actual possibility of the talks materializing remains slim.

Meanwhile, regarding former Unification Minister Jeong Sehyun's recent remarks at a National Assembly forum suggesting that there are too many so-called 'alliance faction' figures around President Lee Jaemyung and calling for personnel reform in the diplomatic and security lines, the senior official said, "It is completely untrue that there is a division between the alliance faction and the self-reliance faction," adding, "Both President Lee and all participants in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting are pragmatists who pursue practical diplomacy."