High-ranking NK official to visit South

Unlikely to touch upon nuclear issues

Though inter-Korean relations are expected to peak with the attendance of North Korea’s ceremonial head of state at the Winter Olympic Games, the amended ties without substantially touching on the nuclear issue is unsustainable, observers noted.

North Korea will send a highlevel delegation led by Kim Yong-nam, the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, to South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympic Games, Korean Central News Agency reported Monday.

By sending its ceremonial head of state, North Korea aims to add a peaceful air to the Olympic Games and to bring the inter-Korean peaceful status to a climax, said Jin Qiangyi, director of Yanbian University’s Asia Research Center.

It would mark the first time that North Korea’s top legislator visits South Korea, becoming the highest-ranking official of North Korea to ever visit South Korea, Kim Eui-kyeom, spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Compared with other officials such as Choe Ryong-hae, the 90-yearold veteran diplomat, Kim Yongnam, has a higher reputation in international society, though he does not hold real power in politics, Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

North Korea also expects the delegation to look beyond sports exchanges and reach political level, such as inter-Korean dialogue on issues including military exchange mechanisms, Yang said.

Seoul has said it will seek high-level talks with the North Korean delegation during the visit, and President Moon is considering holding a oneon-one meeting with Kim, Yonhap reported.

Though North Korea’s strong determination to amend ties was wellreceived by South Korea, which also shares the same wish, the dialogue between Koreas is unlikely to touch on the nuclear issue, experts said.

North Korea wants to improve inter-Korea ties without attaching its nuclear ambitions, while South Korea can hardly relax sanctions due to US pressure and an obligation to UN Security Council resolutions, and the impasse is unlikely to break during Kim’s visit, Jin said.

Though the interactions between Koreas during the Games will help create a good atmosphere for the peaceful resolution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, restoring inter-Korea relations without touching on the nuclear issue is unsustainable and fragile, Yang said.

It remains to be seen whether the peaceful atmosphere lasts after the joint US-South Korea military drills, or whether confrontation will resurface, Yang added.

Opposite poles

Kim’s attendance at the opening ceremony will also put him in the company of US Vice President Mike Pence, and there’s cautious optimism over some kind of contact between the US and the North on the sidelines of the Games, media reported.

However, expectations of high-level talks between US and North Korean officials in South Korea is fanciful, Yang said.

Echoing Yang, Jin noted that such talks, though expected by South Korea, are unlikely as the US has repeatedly expressed indifference to dialogue before North Korea “shows its sincerity by abandoning nuclear ambition.”

North Korea wants talks on a peace treaty without tackling the nuclear issue, while the US considers the nuclear issue essential before any talks can begin, Yang added.

Meanwhile, Pence has invited Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student jailed in North Korea and died last year after returning to the US, to attend the opening ceremony.

“The US is launching a human rights offensive during the Games to send a warning to South Korea,” Jin said, adding that the US is in a discontented mood as it believes South Korea is making unprincipled concessions to mend inter-Korea ties.

However, such an offensive does not lead to any solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Jin said.

Pence also reportedly asked South Korea to arrange his trip in such a way that he could avoid any encounter with the North Koreans.