Kim Jong-un’s Busan visit
N. Korea, US should produce tangible results first
National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon told Korean lawmakers Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jongun may visit Busan to attend the Korea-ASEAN Special Summit, scheduled for Nov. 25 and 26.
However, Suh said the visit would only be possible if the North and U.S. make substantive progress in their envisioned working-level negotiations on the former’s nuclear disarmament, and things go well thereafter.
Initially, Suh’s remarks seemed to represent a premature idea within the South Korean government, but after the summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump in New York, there are increasing signs that Kim’s Busan visit may have been in preparation for some time.
Of course it would only be a byproduct of successful talks between Pyongyang and Washington. But Trump’s latest remarks about North Korea and its leader, and what is occurring in the South, are boosting optimism for the denuclearization talks.
That is not only because Trump described North Korea as a “partner with tremendous untapped potential” in his United Nations address, Tuesday. South Korea’s presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said after Moon’s summit with Trump they reached a consensus on “transforming” — not merely “improving” — relations with North Korea. Ko explained this reflects their strong willingness to seek a fundamental change by ceasing all hostile acts. She could have been exaggerating, but news reports from the U.S. show the Trump administration is tilting toward easing some sanctions on the North to move the nuclear dialogue forward.
South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, citing security sources, reported Thursday that some U.S. officials are now visiting Pyongyang to prepare for the envisioned working-level denuclearization talks, and that Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, may meet with North Korean delegates as early as next week.
And there were also media reports that NIS chief Suh visited Australia and Thailand last week to discuss inviting Kim Jong-un to Busan in November. Thailand is holding ASEAN’s annually rotating chairmanship this year.
Kim’s Busan visit, if realized, will be a symbolic incident in terms of advancing inter-Korean ties, not to mention its historic meaning.
It is also not hard to imagine how his visit would create a rift in the ideologically polarized South. A survey released by the National Unification Advisory Council, Friday, showed 69.7 percent of respondents said Kim’s trip could have a positive impact on the denuclearization talks and inter-Korean relations. Only 23.3 percent said the trip would have a negative impact.
Three incumbent South Korean presidents have visited Pyongyang, and Moon even gave an address to the North Korean people and visited Mount Paektu along with Kim. We can expect more from Kim if he visits the South.