‘Games to help ease tensions’
Denuclearization difficult over US hostility toward NK
The upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games would serve as an opportunity to improve inter-Korean ties with North Korea’s participation, but there is a long way to realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula especially when the US keeps pressuring the North, a former senior South Korean official and a Chinese expert said.
Lee Jong-seok, the former South Korean Minister of Unification, told the Global Times that participating in the Winter Games is a good opportunity for North Korea as it is seeking economic development and wants to make a breakthrough under the strict sanctions.
The two Koreas agreed during rare talks on Wednesday to form a combined women’s ice hockey team to the Games, and march together under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony, Reuters reported.
Lee said that South Korea also wants to hold the Games without any provocation from the North during the period, and that it hopes to open dialogue with the North to prepare for future talks.
“South Korea has, to some extent, persuaded the US as President Donald Trump showed willingness to have talks with the North over the phone with Moon. Although South Korea could not make the US give up its hostile policy toward North Korea right away, it managed to postpone the joint US-South Korea military drills,” Lee said.
Lee added that the current inter-Korea dialogues focused on the North’s participation in the Games and relevant topics. And the two sides may discuss the nuclear program issue later when a greater consensus is reached.
However, Lü Chao, a research fellow on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, remains skeptical about South Korea’s ability to persuade the US to stop its hostility toward North Korea.
“The US has not taken measures to support the current dialogues on the Korean Peninsula. And in order to exert its influence on the North Korea nuclear issue, the US is pressing for more sanctions against North Korea,” Lü told the Global Times.
The US and Canada cohosted a day-long meeting on Tuesday in Vancouver to discuss ways of forcing North Korea to give up its nuclear arms, during which 20 nations present at the meeting agreed to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.
Lü said that many of the 20 nations at the Vancouver meeting are not the relevant parties of the North Korean nuclear issue and unilateral sanctions that go beyond those provided by the UN Security Council would not help ease tensions on the peninsula.
Lee also admitted achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would be difficult, but added that “the North Korea nuclear issue must be solved or the confrontations and strained situation in the region would remain.”