South Korea backs Trump bid to revive North Korea talks, seeks nuclear progress
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US President Donald Trump has been seeking a new summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after the two met three times in 2018 and 2019.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- South Korea supports Trump’s efforts to restart talks with North Korea but wants to ensure its security is not weakened and it is not sidelined in the process.
- The focus of US-North Korea dialogue should be on making progress on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.
- South Korea plans joint military drills with the US and Japan in September and seeks deeper cooperation with the US on trade, security, and intelligence sharing.
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SEOUL – South Korea supports US President Donald Trump’s efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, but aims to ensure its security posture is not weakened and that Seoul is not sidelined, South Korea’s national security adviser said on Aug 28.
Seoul believes the resumption of talks between the US and North Korea should focus on progress on the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and must not undermine the country’s security readiness, Wi Sung-lac told reporters.
“One point to keep in mind is the need to coordinate with the US to ensure that any resumption of US-North Korea dialogue leads to substantive progress on the North Korean nuclear issue, alongside efforts to establish a peace regime on the Korean peninsula,” Wi said.
To achieve these aims, policy coordination and communication between South Korea and the US were more important than ever, he said.
Wi cited Trump’s order earlier in August to substantially scale back major joint military drills between the two allies, saying the US President was signalling a willingness to engage with North Korea.
At the same time, Seoul should ensure it was not “sidelined” in Washington’s efforts to restart talks with Pyongyang, Wi said.
Trump cited in part Seoul’s refusal to offer help in the Iran war for cutting short the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills in August and said they sent a wrong message to North Korea. Trump has been seeking a new summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two met thrice in 2018 and 2019.
South Korea, Japan and the US will conduct joint military drills from Sept 9 to 11 to test readiness against North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons threats, South Korea said on Aug 28.
Wi said South Korea is seeking to deepen cooperation with Washington on a range of issues that have sometimes caused friction between the allies.
These include South Korean investment in the US agreed under a trade deal, the treatment of US-listed e-commerce firm Coupang, security cooperation, intelligence sharing and the transfer of wartime operational control, he said. REUTERS
