Lee In-young: "Relatively Low Possibility of North Korean Provocations Before and After ROK-US Summit"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Minister of Unification Lee In-young predicted that the possibility of North Korean provocations around the upcoming South Korea-US summit scheduled for the 21st is low. It is expected that North Korea will not repeat the mistakes made during the Obama administration. He also analyzed that North Korea's recent rejection of the US's dialogue requests has a 'push and pull' nature.

On the 7th, Minister Lee appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and, when asked about the possibility of military provocations by the North, said, "North Korea is well aware that military tensions caused significant disruptions during the Obama administration, so they will not repeat such mistakes." He suggested that improving inter-Korean relations has been more effective in improving North Korea-US relations and promoting dialogue than military tensions, stating, "It is much more desirable for the North to engage in inter-Korean dialogue or to take the path of negotiation through North Korea-US talks rather than military tensions."

Regarding North Korea's recent ignoring of two US attempts at dialogue, he said, "North Korea probably does not view (the US attempts) negatively," adding, "There is an initial 'push and pull' aspect, and more specifically, since the South Korea-US summit is imminent, it could be exploratory." He positively anticipated the expected outcomes of the South Korea-US summit, saying, "There is a high possibility that it will create an opportunity to restart the peace process on the Korean Peninsula."

Meanwhile, Minister Lee took a reserved stance regarding being mentioned as a presidential candidate by some within the ruling party, saying, "Let's watch the situation a bit more and see what kind of steps I take."

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