Jeong Se-hyun, Vice Chairman of the Democratic Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, "US must conclude a declaration of the end of the war and a peace agreement with North Korea"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] "The United States must never let China take North Korea."

This is the advice given by Jeong Se-hyun, Senior Vice Chairman of the Democratic Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, amid the US-China hegemony struggle surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

Jeong Se-hyun, Senior Vice Chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council, and Hwang Jae-ho, professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, are having a conversation at the National Unification Advisory Council in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 24th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

In a recent interview with Hwang Jae-ho, a professor at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies' International Studies Department and a contributor to Asia Economy, Jeong said, "The United States should accept South Korea's proposal to start negotiations on a declaration of the end of the war and a peace agreement, so that North Korea can move toward denuclearization." Jeong, who served twice as Minister of Unification, is known as a 'wise man of the Korean Peninsula' in diplomatic matters.

He argued that the US should turn China's strategy on the Korean Peninsula to its advantage. Jeong said, "There is a Chinese idiom in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms called 'Jang Gye Chwi Gye (將計就計),' which means to foresee and counter the opponent's strategy," adding, "If the US embassy is established in Pyongyang through improved relations with North Korea, the US's hegemony in Northeast Asia will actually increase."

Jeong also noted that Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, has sidelined the US line and elevated the China line in his diplomatic approach. Regarding this, Jeong said, "From North Korea's perspective, the message is that those aligned with the US are useless, indicating that North Korea's expectations for negotiations with the US have lowered in recent years," and "It is a signal to pressure the US through the development of North Korea-China relations."

North Korea excluded US-aligned members from the Political Bureau and candidate members of the Political Bureau through the Party Congress in January and the Party Central Committee plenary meeting in February. Instead, hardline South Korea policy advocate Ri Son-gwon was elected as a Political Bureau member, and China expert Kim Song-nam was elected as a candidate member of the Political Bureau.

Jeong Se-hyun, Senior Vice Chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council, and Hwang Jae-ho, professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, are having a conversation on the 24th at the National Unification Advisory Council in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Jeong did not hold back criticism of the government's North Korea policy stance. He said, "The US must recognize that it felt sidelined by our government during the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration," analyzing, "As a result, the rapidly progressing Korean Peninsula peace process stalled from November 2018 due to US control through the US-ROK working group."

This means that the reactivation of the Moon Jae-in Korean Peninsula peace process hinges on the US.

Jeong expressed regret over the decision to conduct this year's US-ROK joint military exercises. He pointed out, "To proactively lead improvements in inter-Korean and North Korea-US relations, the government should have officially announced its position not to conduct the US-ROK joint exercises."

Jeong predicted that negotiations to finalize the transfer of wartime operational control would be difficult. He said, "As the US pursues a policy to check China, the role of US Forces Korea is becoming more important," adding, "They are using a previously unseen condition called Full Operational Capability (FOC) as a prerequisite for the transfer of wartime operational control, so it will likely take quite some time."

He also expressed regret over the US and South Korea pushing ahead with joint exercises this year.

Jeong emphasized that South Korea's diplomatic policy direction should change to match its national stature. He said, "Like a cow in a ditch that grazes on grass on both sides of the embankment to fatten itself, we should also pursue a similar diplomatic strategy between the US and China."

More specifically, he advised, "Our government needs to practice diplomatic distancing in its relationship with the US. The US is demanding participation in the Quad Plus, but since that could provoke economic sanctions from China, we must respond cautiously to US demands."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.