Trump hints at engagement with N. Korea

President Moon seeks parliamentary approval of THAAD

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue through engagement, a presidential special envoy said Thursday.

Former media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, who is visiting the U.S. as President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy, said the U.S. government was looking forward to working closely with Moon to resolve the North Korean issue.

This was the first time for the U.S. president to mention engagement, and could be interpreted that his hard-line stance toward the North may turn softer during talks depending on how Pyongyang reacts.

“President Trump said although we are at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he is willing to make peace through engagement if certain conditions are met,” Hong told reporters after a 15-minute meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.

This was the first time for Trump to meet a South Korean official since taking office.

Hong quoted Trump as saying that he would not hold talk for talk’s sake but do so when they can produce a good outcome.

Trump also said he hopes to attain that through close cooperation with Moon in resolving the nuclear issue, adding he is looking forward to next month’s summit, according to the special envoy.

“He said we can achieve an outcome through the strong unity of the alliance and international cooperation,” Hong said.

Also attending the meeting were U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Nation- al Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

The changed stance is expected to harmonize with that of the new Korean President, who calls for both pressure and dialogue in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, contrary to his predecessor Park Geun-hye who took a sanctions-only approach.

THAAD ratification

During his visit, Hong also talked about the Moon government’s stance that National Assembly ratification is required for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.

By officially mentioning it to the U.S., the Moon administration has virtually started seeking parliamentary approval for THAAD. Moon and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have claimed the new government should deal with the contentious deployment, which was pushed through by the previous administration, and that it requires a public consensus and the Assembly’s consent.

Hong said he talked about this in a separate meeting with McMaster.

“I told him that in Korea we have a controversy over the procedural problem of the THAAD installation, and I talked about the need to have the issue discussed at the Assembly,” he said.

In response, McMaster said the U.S. “acknowledges” and “respects” the controversy in Korea, according to Hong.

Moon’s predecessor, Park, pushed ahead with the deployment last year despite protests from the then-opposition parties, liberal civic groups and residents of the planned site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The DPK has claimed the deployment requires Assembly ratification, according to the Status of Forces Agreement, because it involves providing land to the U.S. Forces Korea.

New DPK floor leader Woo Won-shik also said in an interview Wednesday that any issue related to land provision should get parliamentary approval. Woo went further by saying, “If there were legal procedural problems, we have to reconsider them, including sending the battery back to the U.S.”

But it is yet to be seen whether the Assembly will review and ratify the deployment because conservative parties oppose this.

By differently interpreting SOFA, the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the former ruling party, said the government can decide on the deployment on its own without Assembly consent. “Will parliamentary approval be needed every time Korea and the U.S. plan to deploy strategic items for security?” LKP Rep. Kim Seon-dong asked.