A U.S. expert on North Korea says Pyongyang will likely take a back seat on the list of priorities in the Joe Biden administration due to the chaos in Afghanistan amid U.S. military withdrawals. 

Harry Kazianis, a senior director at the Center for the National Interest, gave his analysis in an online seminar arranged by the Korea Institute for National Unification(KINU) on Thursday to discuss South Korea-U.S. cooperation to achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

Kazianis said the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan could lead to significant crises such as kidnapping and a refugee crisis, and North Korea will become less urgent for the U.S. for the next several months. 

He said negotiations with the North were already becoming less significant for Washington due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and ensuing economic slowdown, adding the prospect for the U.S.-North Korea relations is dim in the short- or mid-term. 

Kazianis indicated the goal of denuclearization may have to be replaced by a more moderate one, saying Americans will accept if the North is restricted from selling its nuclear-related technologies to terrorist groups, and called for practical ways of resuming dialogue with Pyongyang.