Easing of Korean tension uncertain
Trump agrees to suspend joint drills during Winter Olympics: S.Korea
It remains uncertain whether tensions in the Korean Peninsula will subside after the North reopened its hotline with the South, Chinese experts said, as the US is unhappy with the developments.
A North Korean liaison official made a call to his South Korean counterpart at the shared border village of Panmunjom Thursday morning. The North reopened the long-suspended communication channel on Wednesday, and the South announced the suspension of military drills with the US during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games late Thursday.
The revival of the dialogue channel, which indicates a first step toward efforts to improve ties between the North and South, were hailed by many countries except the US, which is concerned that the change would drive a wedge between it and South Korea, Chinese experts said.
“The US is concerned there will be changes to the joint US-South Korea military exercises in March. If North Korea sends a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics in South Korea next month, South Korea may propose a postponement of or even cancel the joint military drills,” Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed Thursday to delay their countries’ regular joint military
exercises during the Winter Olympic Games to be held next month, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.
However, Yang said that Kim implied in his New Year speech on Monday that North Korea would make contact with other countries as a nuclear power, which makes the current resumed talks between the two Koreas unacceptable to the US.
The commanding general of the US Forces Korea on Thursday stressed the importance of combat readiness and unity among regional powers to cope with North Korea’s recent peace offensive, Yonhap reported.
“The resumed hotline between the two Koreas would unfreeze the ties. But to what extent they would improve the situation is unknown considering resistance from the US, and the nuclear issue remains unsolved,” Cui Zhiying, director of the Korean Peninsula Research Center at Tongji University, told the Global Times.
Cui said that a peaceful situation on the Korean Peninsula does not fit in the US’ interests. “The US wants to keep a moderately tense situation in Northeast Asia to keep its allies South Korea and Japan united with it, increase military presence in the region and contain China and Russia,” Cui said.
Guarded optimism
The Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday that Chinese assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou is scheduled to meet his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon in Seoul on Friday.
China believes that North and South Korea could improve ties and promote cooperation through dialogue, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Thursday.
“China welcomes the recent efforts made by the two sides. China hopes the international community could give support to these moves and relevant parties should make more efforts to ease tensions and enhance mutual trust,”Geng said.
The series of positive signals sent by several parties in the region showed that there is a possibility of easing tensions in the Korean Peninsula, but it is still too early to be optimistic, experts said.
“Talks via the hotline may not be that smooth as the two sides may diverge on issues, including who gets the leading position in the talks and the agenda to be discussed,” Yang said.
“Aside from developing its nuclear program, North Korea wants to turn to economic development in the future. It needs to improve ties with South Korea to increase exchanges with other countries, which could help it ease the pressure of the sanctions and get humanitarian aid,” Yang said.
The US may insist on its highpressure policy to rein in North Korea, imposing more economic sanctions and pressuring its allies, including South Korea, to impose sanctions to push the North to give up its nuclear program, Yang said.