Jong-seok Lee, "No Trump-style Big Deal, Will Move Toward Easing Korean Peninsula Tensions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 27th, the 'April 27 Panmunjom Inter-Korean Summit,' the first step of the Moon Jae-in administration's Korean Peninsula peace process, will mark its 3rd anniversary.

Lee Jong-seok, Senior Research Fellow at the Sejong Institute, is being interviewed on the 6th at the Sejong Institute in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In the meantime, the U.S. president has changed, and with the new North Korea policy review not yet completed, the deadlock between North Korea and the U.S. continues.

The Moon Jae-in administration is also facing the end of its term without finding a breakthrough to improve inter-Korean relations.

Lee Jong-seok, Senior Research Fellow at the Sejong Institute and former Minister of Unification at the end of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, commented on the Korean Peninsula situation, saying, "Considering the homogeneity of the South Korea-U.S. governments, there is a possibility that inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. relations will move toward easing tensions during the remaining term of the Moon Jae-in administration."

In a recent interview with Asia Economy, he expressed a positive outlook, stating, "Since the U.S. Democratic Party tends to listen to the opinions of its allies, the South Korean and U.S. governments will coordinate their North Korea policies through mutual persuasion."

Regarding the North Korea policy framework currently under final review by the Biden administration, the former minister expected that it would focus on a step-by-step process to stabilize potential conflict factors rather than a Trump-style 'big deal' plan.

He said, "The possibility of a big deal plan emerging in North Korea-U.S. relations like during the Trump administration is low," and predicted, "Our government and the Biden administration will attempt efforts to resolve the Korean Peninsula conflict situation one issue at a time."

He further predicted, "The Biden administration's North Korea policy is likely to move toward a gradual diplomatic approach that can achieve results step by step."

Lee also pointed out the failure to implement the September 19, 2018 Pyongyang Joint Declaration as the most painful setback among the 'big events' aimed at establishing the Moon Jae-in administration's Korean Peninsula peace process.

Following the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the second inter-Korean summit on May 26, the first North Korea-U.S. summit in Sentosa, Singapore on June 12, and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration followed, but the joint declaration was not implemented.

According to Article 5 of the joint declaration, "North Korea agreed to dismantle the Dongchang-ri engine test site first, and if the U.S. takes corresponding measures, it will proceed with the permanent dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear facility through phased expert inspections."

Lee criticized, "Article 5 is a very important agreement in inter-Korean relations and Korean Peninsula peace issues, and if our government had wanted to lead it to meaningful results, it should have persuaded the U.S. to make progress on the North Korean nuclear issue."

He analyzed, "Our government was confident it could persuade former President Trump based on the Article 5 agreement, but Trump's thinking was different. From Trump's perspective, the Article 5 agreement was seen as an agreement and achievement between Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, and President Moon, which he disparaged, and ultimately our government also failed to persuade the U.S."

Lee also expressed regret about the so-called 'Korean Peninsula driver theory.'

He advised, "The Korean Peninsula issue is a fateful matter directly related to our survival, so calling ourselves the 'driver' is too simplistic. Depending on the situation, a person sitting in the passenger seat can also actively intervene and cause incidents, and may play a more important role than the driver. We must have a sense of ownership regarding the Korean Peninsula issue in any situation and make active and creative efforts."

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