North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Photo: Reuters
Aidan Foster-Carter, 38 North: How Should South Korea Handle the North? Reciprocity/Bipartisanship/Planning for the Long Haul
A year on from the extraordinary Panmunjom Summit—the first meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un—which raised so many hopes, the inter-Korean march toward peace has ground to a halt. Already this year the North had slowed the pace. And now Kim Jong Un has stomped off the field in a post-Hanoi huff.
A mercurial US President Donald Trump and a scheming National Security Advisor John Bolton are hardly Moon Jae-in’s fault. But Kim seems minded to shoot the middleman. His hard-line policy speech on April 12 to the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) included criticism of the “south Korean authorities” for “pos[ing] as a meddlesome ‘mediator’ and ‘facilitator’ as they busy themselves with foreign trips.” Moon was not named, but this mean snark was uttered the same day he returned from Washington, after yet another noble attempt to promote peace and dialogue on the peninsula.
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WNU Editor: This is a good analysis on South Korea's many failed attempts to reconcile with the North. And while tensions on the Korean peninsula have gone down appreciably in the past year (even with recent North Korean missile tests), this is a process that is going to take years (if not decades) to work itself out. The best thing to do is keep the door open. Keep on enforcing sanctions. And help when help is needed .... Donald Trump supports donation of food to North Korea despite nuclear stand-off, Seoul claims (SCMP/Bloomberg).
