Kazakstan for NK talks
It seems that a current stalemate in negotiations with North Korea is a puzzle that is hard to crack for anyone. And with the almost-daily missile “fireworks” which seem to entertain no one but North Korean leader Kim Jong-un himself, the current situation has turned into a game of nerves for everyone across the region.
The hot “bromance” between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, at its apogee a bit more than a month ago, is “cooling off,” leaving diplomats on all sides scratching their heads. The government of President Moon Jaein, bogged in multiple crises on several fronts domestically and internationally, has chosen to wait until the North exhausts its missile arsenal.
The big question is what will be the next step for the North to take. Will it be another provocation on the ground or sea border, or, in the worst case, will it involve the further development, and God forbid, the use of nuclear material in any shape or form? These thoughts aren’t outlandish, as to me it seems that we are becoming complacent, knowing well what was happening on the peninsula just a few years ago.
Given the tonal change in the North’s rhetoric towards the South, the transformation can be quick and drastic. So, here are my two cents to ponder about — South Korea has to become more agile, creative and eventually prolific in its diplomacy and it has look for more ways to resolve the quagmire.
The example of how it could be done is just next door.
In two months’ time, Kazakhstan is planning to host yet another round of negotiations aimed at the settlement of the Syrian conflict. The planned 14th round of negotiations is an indication that all interested sides should not just gather and spend time, but really strive to hammer out a deal to end the Syrian war, and also a follow-up to the round (called the “Astana-13” by the media) that ended in early August. A remarkable fact is that Syrian TV announced a truce in Idlib during the negotiations at the time — an event equally long awaited and fragile in the city with an immense humanitarian crisis according to the United Nations.
In the words of Mark Lowcock, the top U.N. human rights watchdog, “When weapons speak, civilians pay the price.”
After following the developments closely for several years, my conviction is that Seoul is very much capable of utilizing this negotiations platform to move its own diplomatic stalemate forward.
As the missile launches seem to fail to attract Washington’s attention, it leaves Seoul to worry more about what is coming next from the North. We need to look for any viable options to engage the North in order to break the impasse.
And Kazakhstan, with all its own shortcomings, may just be that middle ground or a platform where all sides could meet.