US scheme on nuclear talks in spotlight amid diplomat’s visit

The Korean Peninsula situation is at a crossroad and more efforts should be made to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and resume dialogues, Chinese experts said amid the visit of a veteran US official to South Korea on nuclear talks.

Chinese experts believe positive results are expected from the visit as the Biden administration has worked to formulate a new approach on North Korea that is believed to be more “flexible” and North Korean leader Kim Jong- un signaled willingness to have talks.

Sung Kim, US special envoy for North Korea, arrived in Seoul on Saturday and will have talks with Noh Kyu- duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs on Monday.

On the same day, the two along with Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau will have a trilateral meeting on nuclear talks, according to the Japan Times. This is his first visit to South Korea since being appointed to the post.

Later on Tuesday, Sung Kim will meet with Seoul’s Unification Minister Lee In- young and members of academia and civil society to discuss the outcome of Washington’s North Korean policy review before leaving the country on Wednesday, KBS reported on Saturday.

Sung Kim’s five- day visit to South Korea comes as the administration of US President Joe Biden has finished a review of its policy on North Korea in April and North Korea made gestures for the first time since Biden took office that it is willing to resume nuclear talks, media said.

This trilateral meeting is part of the Biden administration’s broader plan of coordinating with every possible nation to reach the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.

Different from the Trump administration on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the Biden administration is taking a more flexible strategy – while it imposes high pressure against North Korea, it will adjust its policies in accordance with North Korean moves. “If North Korea goes soft on issues on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the US would go softer; if North Korea gets tough, the US will go tougher,” Yang said.

“The Korean Peninsula situation is at a crossroad as the Biden administration has worked to formulate a new approach on North Korea and Kim Jong- un is adjusting his policy in dealing with the US,” Yang said.