Sanctions likely to end hopes of dialogue
US move comes hours after ROK plea to capitalize on mood for DPRK tallks
The presence of Ivanka Trump at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is unlikely to led to dialogue between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, experts said.
This is in spite of media reports claiming that the DPRK was willing to hold talks with the US.
The ceremony brought the daughter of the US President Donald Trump into contact with the high-level delegation from the DPRK led by Kim Yong-chol, the vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, experts said the encounter may not increase possibilities in future dialogue for the US and DPRK due to the US’ recent “largestever” sanctions on the DPRK.
The US announced the sanctions on Friday during Ivanka’s trip to the Republic of Korea, coming hours after ROK President Moon Jae-in said that Seoul and Washington must take the opportunity to capitalize on the current mood for dialogue.
During the dinner with Ivanka at Seoul’s presidential Blue House, Moon said DPRK’s participation in the Olympics had “led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in interKorean relations”.
He also stressed that it would be significant for the ROK and the US to closely cooperate to enable the inter-Korean talks and the denuclearization talks to make progress.
The US president’s daughter and advisor, however, said that the US wanted to “reaffirm our commitment to our maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized,” according to Reuters.
Earlier, ROK said Kim Yongchol’s attendance at the Olympic closing ceremony will help improve inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula as he doubles as the director of the United Front Department in charge of interKorean ties.
It was also expected that Kim and Ivanka would take their respective seats in the same VIP box for Moon during the closing ceremony, which was seen as a chance of creating a thaw between DPRK and the US.
However, with the sanctions described as the “heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country before” by president Donald Trump, it is believed that there will be more uncertainty in the Korean Peninsula in the future since neither the US or DPRK gives room for concessions.
Sun Chenghao, an expert of American studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the new sanctions aim to not only punish the DPRK but also “third-party” organizations and businesses that help the country, which will be immediately achieve the purpose of isolating DPRK at the diplomatic level.
The new package which is part of the US campaign of “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang, target 56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses, according to a statement released by the US Treasury.
Diao Daming, a researcher at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed that Washington’s latest move came amid the recent positive momentum on the Korean Peninsula as Pyongyang and Seoul have embarked on an apparent rapprochement with the Olympics over the past month.
Diao said the signs of easing relations in the Korean Peninsula may not be in line with the US expectation. Washington has reinforced many times of its “maximum pressure” because it wants to pursue the “right to speak” in the Northeast Asia, Diao said.
Xinhua contributed to this story