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North Korea
This Week in AsiaPolitics

As South Korea, US discuss ‘creative’ ways to engage with Pyongyang, does Moon have a shot at ending the Korean war?

  • Chung Eui-yong and his American counterpart Antony Blinken held talks amid a renewed focus on the North’s nuclear capabilities
  • Their meeting came as the South Korean president repeated his calls to formally end the 1950-53 conflict, which is technically ongoing

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Pyongyang has carried out six nuclear tests and numerous missile launches since 2006. Photo: AP
John Power
South Korea’s foreign minister and his US counterpart have discussed “creative” ways to engage with North Korea, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, as the South’s President Moon Jae-in repeated calls for a declaration to officially end the Korean war.
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Foreign minister Chung Eui-yong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York amid a renewed focus on Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons activities.

The North carried out a series of missile launches earlier this month, while the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday said the hermit state’s nuclear development was going “full steam ahead” after the recent resumption of activity at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.

The meeting came shortly after Chung and Blinken held three-way talks with Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi about North Korea and other issues of concern, including climate change.
Denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang have stalled since the collapse of the second summit between former United States president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019.

Leif-Eric Easley, an international relations professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said while the three sides were on the same page about taking a diplomatic approach towards the North, they also had different priorities.

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“In his final months in office, President Moon wants to burnish the legacy of his ‘peace first’ policy,” Easley said. “Japan prefers a tougher line on Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes, but is currently in the midst of a leadership transition. The Biden administration favours dialogue for denuclearisation but has a long list of other priorities.”

Easley said effective cooperation would need to be based “on strategic coordination rather than a coincidence of political interests”.

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