Summit fails to advance peace

Biden-Moon meeting more talk than action, lacks concrete moves on nuclear issue, experts say

Afew takeaways from the United States-Republic of Korea summit on May 21: hackneyed pledges of denuclearization, absence of concrete measures for resuming nuclear talks with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and a full lifting of US restrictions on ROK missiles.

Experts say the lack of progress at the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Moon Jae-in, president of ROK, may lengthen the shadows cast on the prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the region, running counter to a trend for a multipolar world.

The summit in Washington brought the two leaders face-to-face for the first time since Biden took office. The talks were seen by some as a means for Washington to rope Seoul into the US’ East Asia strategy under a renewed focus on the region. Moon wrapped up his four-day trip to the US on May 22.

The summit also came three weeks after the Biden administration finished a policy review on the DPRK.

Despite apparent progress between the US and the ROK on cooperation over COVID-19 vaccines, and multibillion-dollar deals in technology cooperation announced before the summit, the two sides still seem to be in a rut on the DPRK issue.

The two leaders on May 21 again stressed the need for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and voiced their willingness to talk with the DPRK, but failed to detail any concrete steps or plans. They also touted joint efforts to “improve the human rights situation” in the DPRK — language that experts say may provoke protests from Pyongyang.

The only movement on the issue was Biden naming Sung Kim, acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, US special envoy for the DPRK.

Kim, a career diplomat and former US ambassador to the ROK, had served as a US negotiator in the SixParty Talks.

While some Western media say the appointment shows Biden’s commitment to address the issue, Li Chengri, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, counters that it is impossible to expect an experienced diplomat to break the impasse in the short term, given that the US has not made any concrete moves.

Lyu Chao, a researcher on the Korean Peninsula at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, also said the summit ended without any gains on the DPRK issue.

This outcome will do nothing to help to maintain regional stability. Instead, it may bring more uncertainties to the region with the termination of missile guidelines for the ROK, Lyu said.

In a joint news conference after the meeting, Biden and Moon announced the end of the bilateral missile guidelines that had banned the ROK from developing or possessing ballistic missiles with a maximum range greater than 800 kilometers.

Under the guidelines, set in 1979, Seoul agreed to cap its maximum missile range at 180 kilometers in return for receiving technology from Washington. Last year, Seoul and Washington had revised the guidelines four times to a limit of 800 km.

“The full lifting of US restrictions on ROK missiles will allow Seoul to develop its own missile system independently, which could anger Pyongyang and intensify the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the East Asia region,” said Li Nan, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“If it gets worse, this move may open the door to an arms race in the region.”

Biden hailed the collaboration on the vaccine front and the fresh technology deals. The US will provide vaccinations for ROK service members who work in close contact with US troops.

Lyu said the move is not aimed at “scaling up global COVID-19 supplies and helping those countries in dire need of vaccines”, as the US touted in the joint statement. Its purpose is to strengthen the US-ROK alliance in the region, as part of efforts to counter China.

Under the technology cooperation cheered by Biden, companies from the ROK will invest $39.4 billion in the US. In the pre-summit announcement, the plans were aired by the chiefs of companies including Samsung Electronics, LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation.

The White House has also highlighted investment from the US to the ROK.