'US Ambassador to Korea Mentions "Bulryang Jeonggwon" and "CVID"... Growing Concerns Over Escalating Tensions on the Korean Peninsula'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Philip Goldberg, the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, referred to North Korea as a "rogue regime" and stated that "Complete, Verifiable, and Irreversible Denuclearization" (CVID), a term rarely used by the Biden administration until now, aligns with the United States' goals.

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on the 7th (local time), nominee Goldberg described CVID as a "difficult goal" and a "very challenging issue," but emphasized that "it is something we must continue to strive for and approach with great determination."

He also said that CVID "aligns with our deterrence policy, which involves building, expanding, and deepening the alliance with South Korea and doing everything possible to confront North Korea's rogue regime that violates UN resolutions, its own commitments, and international agreements whenever the opportunity arises."

CVID was a denuclearization goal used during the early Trump administration, but North Korea showed resistance to it, leading to its diminished use in the later Trump administration and the Biden administration. However, nominee Goldberg’s explicit mention of CVID as a denuclearization goal for North Korea can be seen as a revival of the term.

The term "rogue regime" was used by the Bush administration, which pursued a hardline stance toward North Korea, and former President Trump also referred to North Korea as a "rogue regime" in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017, early in his term.

Nominee Goldberg is a North Korea sanctions expert and hardliner who served as the State Department’s coordinator for UN sanctions enforcement against North Korea from 2009 to 2010 during the Barack Obama administration.

The remarks by the U.S. Ambassador nominee to South Korea coincide with recent references to CVID by the incoming Yoon Seok-yeol administration. On the 4th (local time), Park Jin, head of the South Korea-U.S. policy consultation delegation visiting Washington, told reporters after meeting with Deputy Secretary Sherman, "I explained the president-elect’s North Korea policy to realize sustainable peace and security on the Korean Peninsula through CVID," adding that the U.S. side agreed with this.

With both South Korea and the U.S. signaling a tough stance on North Korea’s nuclear issue, including CVID, concerns are rising that tensions on the Korean Peninsula may increase, considering North Korea’s "ganggang" (strength-against-strength) principle. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, pointed out, "Nominee Goldberg’s remarks on 'CVID' and 'rogue regime' show that U.S. officials’ basic perception of North Korea is hardline," and added, "The people leading the new government’s 'denuclearization and prosperity' policy are all hardliners, so tensions on the Korean Peninsula could rise in the future."

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