Blinken: "The Ball Is in North Korea's Court" Will North Korea Engage in Dialogue?

[Asia Economy Reporter Inho Yoo, New York=Correspondent Jongmin Baek] U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken emphasized "resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through diplomacy" and urged North Korea to respond during his first press interview following the South Korea-U.S. summit.

On the 23rd (local time), Secretary Blinken appeared on ABC News and said, "The best opportunity to achieve the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is to engage diplomatically with North Korea," adding, "The ball is in North Korea's court."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Secretary Blinken continued, "Although North Korea continues to engage in actions clearly prohibited by the United Nations and sanctions remain in place, we are prepared to pursue this diplomatically," adding, "The question is whether North Korea is ready for that."

This was a call for practical diplomatic meetings with North Korea, while simultaneously offering a "carrot" by suggesting the possibility of considering measures such as sanctions relief.

However, Secretary Blinken clearly drew a line regarding North Korea's denuclearization measures and the previous administration's top-down, all-at-once approach. He said, "I do not believe there will be a one-shot comprehensive deal."

He pointed out, "We reviewed various approaches from past administrations, including 'all for all' and 'complete for complete,' but none were effective."

Following the summit, as the U.S. urged North Korea to engage in dialogue, the South Korean government has begun seeking concrete measures to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.

Foreign Affairs and Security ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Unification, and Ministry of National Defense plan to start consultations on specific implementation plans to resume the stalled North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations, which lost momentum after the Hanoi no-deal in February 2018, as well as to restart inter-Korean talks currently at an impasse.

Minister of Unification Lee In-young is giving a greeting at the 4.27 Panmunjom Declaration 3rd Anniversary Commemoration Event held on the morning of the 27th in front of the North Gate DMZ access office of the Ministry of Unification, 307 Huimang-ro, Jangdan-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do. 2021.04.27. Photo by Joint Press Corps

In this regard, Minister of Unification Lee In-young said in a radio interview on the 24th, "Sufficient conditions have been created to resume dialogue through the South Korea-U.S. summit," adding, "We will steadily work on restoring the severed communication channels."

Additionally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to reactivate communication channels with Sung Kim, the newly appointed U.S. Special Representative for North Korea and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. This will be led by Noh Kyu-duk, head of the South Korea Peace Negotiation Office.

However, diplomatic circles are noting that the South Korea-U.S. summit did not present sufficient and concrete incentives to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.

Analysts believe the possibility of immediate inter-Korean or North Korea-U.S. talks is low. There was no mention of the withdrawal of the "hostile policy toward North Korea," which North Korea has insisted on as a precondition for resuming dialogue, and rather, the joint statement between the two countries mentioned North Korea's human rights issues, which could provoke North Korean opposition.

Moreover, North Korea continues to be cautious about external exchanges, citing COVID-19 as a reason, and recently issued harsh statements criticizing the South for leaflet distribution, supporting this outlook.

Professor Kim Dong-yeop of the University of North Korean Studies said, "Since there was no mention of sanctions relief, North Korea will likely see these measures as nothing more than lip service," and predicted, "There is a high possibility of North Korean backlash regarding mentions of human rights and humanitarian aid."

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