Dialogue is good thing

N. Korea, US should take step-by-step approach

Expectations are high that North Korea and the United States will finally resume their denuclearization dialogue after senior North Korean diplomat Choe Son-hui offered to hold talks in late September, and the U.S. responded to this positively.

And there was another “beautiful letter” story. South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited U.S. President Donald Trump to Pyongyang in a letter sent in August. Trump did not deny the report, saying both the U.S. and North Korea are not yet ready for him to visit Pyongyang. Last week, he said he expects to meet Kim again “at some point this year.”

One thing is clear. Something is really going on between the two sides. But there are a number of reasons why we should not be overly optimistic about what will happen between them. Their past talks — and the three dramatic meetings between Kim and Trump so far — have proven that making North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons is a tricky, unpredictable process, and a “grand bargain,” which Trump previously pursued, was only a pipe dream. Rather, we now know it will take a lot of time and that there are many conditions to be met in order to produce tangible results.

But dialogue is a good thing. We should not give up hope. Like it or not, Trump is the biggest contributor to the fragile peace on the Korean Peninsula at the moment. Fortunately, a pre-emptive strike is not seen in his gameplan. North Korea has fired missiles, but did not cross the line Trump drew. In a way, this is really big progress looking back at the time when the two sides exchanged saber-rattling rhetoric and the U.S. amassed strategic weapons in the South.

It is certain that Pyongyang and Washington need to take a stepby-step approach to achieve the mutually agreed end state.

In a statement, Monday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry stressed that discussions on denuclearization will be possible only after “threats and hurdles endangering our security and obstructing our development” are completely removed.

This appears to be demanding security guarantees and sanctions relief from the U.S. as preconditions to any future negotiations on denuclearization.

The statement also said the future talks depend on “what proposals the U.S. will come up with,” adding relations between North Korea and the U.S. could improve or become more hostile. It did not mention what measures the North would take if the U.S. accepted its demands.

In fact, denuclearization has become a tricky word as far as North Korea is concerned because few still trust its pledge to give up its nuclear weapons. A realistic option at this point will be to freeze its nuclear development program and destroy — or suspend the operation of — relevant facilities at best.

This doesn’t mean that the goal of denuclearizing the North is not achievable. It will be a very long diplomatic process. For its part, Seoul should play an active role in moving the peace process forward as a mediator, facilitator or whatever other role is necessary.