Park Jin, Special Envoy to the U.S., "Consensus Formed to Elevate ROK-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Alliance"

Published 05 Apr.2022 09:56(KST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] It is expected that President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will prioritize elevating the 'South Korea-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Alliance' as the top diplomatic policy task after his inauguration on the 10th of next month.

Regarding North Korea's denuclearization, the term 'Complete, Verifiable, and Irreversible Denuclearization (CVID),' which had been avoided until now, is also expected to reappear.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Jin, head of the South Korea-U.S. Policy Consultation Delegation dispatched by President-elect Yoon, met with Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, at the U.S. Department of State building in Washington D.C. on the afternoon of the 4th (local time). After the meeting, he said, "We conveyed President-elect Yoon's vision for a comprehensive strategic alliance to the Biden administration and formed a consensus," adding, "The U.S. side also welcomed the President-elect's vision to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a partnership contributing globally to issues such as the Ukraine crisis and COVID-19 response."

On the 5th, Park plans to visit the White House to deliver a letter from President-elect Yoon containing this vision to President Joe Biden and coordinate the schedule for the South Korea-U.S. summit. The delegation arrived in the U.S. on the 3rd to coordinate the President-elect's policies toward the U.S. and North Korea.

Regarding consultations on the North Korean nuclear issue, Park said, "Both countries agreed on the importance of maintaining seamless cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in this grave situation," and particularly noted, "We had an opportunity to explain in detail President-elect Yoon's North Korea policy vision to realize sustainable peace and security on the Korean Peninsula through CVID, and the U.S. side also expressed agreement."

The Biden administration has mainly used the term 'complete denuclearization' instead of 'CVID,' but included CVID in a statement released ahead of the U.S.-Japan summit in January last year.

Park also said, "We agreed on the critical importance of high-level strategic meetings to strengthen combined defense posture and extended deterrence," emphasizing, "We concurred on the importance of reactivating the consultative body for extended deterrence, which has not functioned properly for several years."

Accordingly, it is expected that the reactivation of the South Korea-U.S. 'Extended Deterrence Strategy Consultation Group (EDSCG),' which President-elect Yoon pledged during the presidential campaign, will be pursued.

Regarding North Korean human rights, Park said, "South Korea will take an active stance, leading the way in raising its voice," and also mentioned, "We expressed our position to participate in the working group of the security consultation body Quad."

Responses to North Korean provocations between South Korea and the U.S. are also expected to accelerate. On the same day, Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, met with Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's Director-General for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the U.S. Department of State building, and said, "We will strongly respond to North Korea's continued military provocations, including pursuing a new United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution," adding, "I plan to visit South Korea soon and look forward to discussions with Director-General Noh as well as President-elect Yoon's transition team."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea, issued another statement two days later, criticizing Defense Minister Seo Wook's remarks on 'preemptive precise strike,' but stated, "We will not fire a single bullet or shell toward South Korea."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the statement released through the Korean Central News Agency on the same day, Deputy Director Kim asserted, "We do not view South Korea as a military adversary," and added, "This is not a perspective based on military comparison with a pure nuclear state, but because we are the same people who should not fight each other, we oppose war."