ⓒ YONHAP News, KBS

The Joe Biden administration in the U.S. has been extending a hand to North Korea since its inauguration. It tried to contact North Korea through various channels in February, but the North remained silent. On March 18, North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui said in a statement that the North would continue to ignore any contact from the U.S. unless Washington drops its hostile policy toward Pyongyang. Here’s political commentator Lee Jong-hoon to explain. 

At the time, the Biden administration was working on its policy review on North Korea. Pyongyang ignored Washington’s attempt to engage with the North, in an apparent bid to induce the U.S. to formulate its new North Korea policy in a way to benefit North Korea as much as possible. By maintaining a hard-line stance, the North was pressuring the U.S. to reflect its demands in the policy. Also, North Korea may have wanted to wait until the U.S. completes the new policy review. I think North Korea has the intention of leading the negotiation process overall. 

On April 30, the U.S. government confirmed the completion of its policy review on North Korea. Under the new policy, the U.S. said it would seek a practical and calibrated approach toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a goal. It stressed that the new policy will not pursue the Trump administration’s “grand bargain” approach, nor will it depend on the Obama government’s “strategic patience.” Rather, the Biden government will start from working-level discussions and push for its North Korea policy step by step. 

While Pyongyang did not make any official response to Washington’s new North Korea policy, it released a series of statements criticizing the U.S. 

The statement released in the name of Kwon Jong-gun, director-general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, criticized Biden’s congressional speech. Obviously, the North was upset by Biden’s remarks that the U.S. would address the North Korean nuclear threats through “diplomacy” and “stern deterrence.” It seems North Korea was concerned that the U.S. might adopt a hard-line policy again. 

In another statement, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman took issue with U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price’s criticism of the North Korean human rights issue, saying that it’s a matter of national sovereignty. 

I guess North Korea tried to prevent the U.S., in advance, from bringing up this sensitive issue at future negotiations. 

But the North did not make any comment directed at Washington’s new North Korea policy, and the statements were announced in the name of relatively low-level officials. This shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is committed to dialogue with the U.S. 

North Korea has confirmed the receipt of Washington’s recent proposal to explain its new policy. It remains unclear how the U.S. delivered its offer to the North and exactly how North Korea responded to it. Still, analysts say that this is a meaningful change in attitude, considering that North Korea had remained mum about Washington’s offer or rejected it so far. 

It is certainly notable that North Korea did not reject the offer immediately. It may not mean that the North will engage in negotiations right away, but we can see North Korea’s intention to closely examine the Biden administration’s policy. I imagine the new policy is very specific and systematic, encompassing a wide range of issues. North Korea, for its part, may need some time to check it out. I think that’s why the North gave the U.S. a neutral response. 

According to a research report announced by the Korea Education and Research Institute for Patriots and Veterans, North Korea’s state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun has not used the expression “the imperialist U.S.” for its news titles since the 2018 North Korea-U.S. summit. Previously, North Korea often used the term to express its hostility toward the U.S. It is said that the North did not use the term, even while sending aggressive messages to the U.S. after the collapse of the second North Korea-U.S. summit in 2019. 

North Korea has not used the expression since the first North Korea-U.S. summit in June 2018, when the possibility of a better relationship between the two countries remained high. It is said that the Rodong Sinmun news titles used the phrase “the imperialist U.S.” an average of 377 times a year from 1949 to 2000. But the term has never appeared since June 2018. The use of another expression “anti-U.S.” has also been reduced considerably. It shows that North Korea has the possibility of improving its relations with the U.S. in mind. The North is probably ready to enter the process of receiving economic assistance and becoming a normal state through dialogue with the U.S. 

Since the inauguration of the Biden administration in the U.S., North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has focused on domestic affairs without announcing any particular message toward the outside world. Kim has attended a total of 42 public activities so far this year, 2.5 times more than those in the same period of last year. The public events were mostly about the domestic economy and politics. 

Biden is adopting a different approach from Trump’s, meaning that summit talks between top leaders will likely materialize on the final stage. So, now is not the time for the North Korean leader to come forward. He has actually refrained from diplomatic remarks. At future negotiations, working-level officials like his sister Kim Yo-jong and Vice Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui may play their roles as a bad cop, and the leader will sign an agreement on the last stage. North Korea has already started building up the personality cult of its leader Kim Jong-un. An ideal leader is not supposed to deal with little details. Kim is focusing on internal affairs in line with the country’s campaign to idolize the leader. 

On May 15, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said that North Korea’s international status has risen, and the country has great influence on regional diplomacy and global politics. 

It emphasized solidarity with countries that respect its independence and pledged to develop diplomatic relations in line with its elevated strategic status. Why did North Korea stress its higher strategic status ahead of the South Korea-U.S. summit? 

In a word, North Korea is saying that it is a nuclear weapons state. It wants to tell its people that even the U.S. cannot ignore North Korea, which has held negotiations with the global power on an equal footing, as evidenced in their summit talks. North Korea is also trying to say that its relations with the U.S. will improve and it will not beg for aid but will receive well-deserved one. By underlining that it is a nuclear state, North Korea seeks to strengthen its bargaining power and up the ante at future negotiations. Judging from the diplomatic mood on the whole, I guess North Korea will engage in dialogue with the U.S. in the not-too-distant future. 

North Korea has refrained from outside activities since it used harsh rhetoric against South Korea and the U.S. early this month to escalate tension in the region. The North has not made any particular comment, either, since it confirmed Washington’s offer to contact. It is expected to take action after watching the result of the South Korea-U.S. summit this week. 

I think South Korean President Moon Jae-in will call for a North Korea-U.S. summit during his summit with Biden. President Biden has already stressed the need for a diplomatic solution and the U.S. has accepted the expression, “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” which has been used by the South Korean government. Given that, I think Moon and Biden will agree on the need for inducing North Korea to come back to the dialogue table. Although a North Korea-U.S. summit may not take place anytime soon, Pyongyang could make some response after the South Korea-U.S. summit. But the North and the U.S. are expected to engage in a fierce tug-of-war at their working-level negotiations, which will therefore take considerable time.

 

The U.S. is attempting to contact North Korea, advocating a practical approach. While attention is drawn to what the Biden government will present to North Korea as inducements, the South Korea-U.S. summit this week is expected to serve as a watershed event in regional diplomacy.