North Korea plays hardball ahead of summit

Political analysts presume North Korea’s abrupt cancellation of high-level inter-Korean talks and threats to reconsider the Washington-Pyongyang summit are aimed at taking the lead ahead of talks over its denuclearization.

Most predict the North is unlikely to spoil the current mood for dialogue but is trying to strengthen bargaining power before negotiations and send a warning ― to the U.S., rather than to South Korea ― not to underestimate the country.

About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Pyongyang notified Seoul that it had cancelled the high-level talks, which were to take place in less than 10 hours, citing the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, which it sees as a rehearsal of war.

Later in the day, North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan also said in a statement the country would reconsider the summit between its leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, slated for June 12, if the U.S. forces the North unilaterally to give up nuclear weapons.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon enters his office building in Seoul, Wednesday, after North Korea cancelled high-level inter-Korean talks unilaterally. / Yonhap

Experts say the exercises may not be the true reason for the North canceling talks, considering that the drills started May 11 and the North suggested the meeting four days later. Kim Jong-un also earlier told South Korean envoys that he understood the allies’ joint military drills.

“With the drills as a pretext, Pyongyang is indirectly expressing discontent at the recent hard-line stances from Washington, such as moving the North’s nuclear weapons to the U.S., removing biochemical weapons and raising an issue of human rights abuse,” said Shin Beom-chul, senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “The North is making use of the high-level talks as a chance (to express its discomfort).”

Indeed, Kim Kye-gwan said American officials’ remarks, such as “denuclearization first and reward later” and “complete abandonment of nuclear, missile and biochemical weapons,” are “thoughtless words that provoke its counterpart.”

Dongguk University professor Ko Yu-hwan said North Korea seems to be getting pressure from the joint drills, as it says removal of military threats and guarantee of regime security should be preconditions for denuclearization.

“In the reconciliatory situation where the Panmunjeom Declaration has been made, the North is sending a message, to both Seoul and Washington, that it is improper (for them) to continue what they used to do,” Ko said.

It is also said Pyongyang was upset about a press conference by Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South, held at the National Assembly on Monday.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency reported, “Although the South promised joint efforts for peace, prosperity and unification of the Korean Peninsula, it is continuing acts that run counter to the promise and letting human trash stand at the Assembly and slander our respected supreme leader and regime,” apparently referring to Thae’s press conference.

Despite the North’s hard-line stance, Seoul officials and political analysts believe Pyongyang is unlikely to spoil the mood for dialogue entirely and likely to proceed with its planned nuclear test site closure in Punggye-ri next week.

“Related ministries think there will be no change in North Korea’s nuclear test site shutdown schedule, and so does Cheong Wa Dae,” an official at the presidential office said.

Source:koreatimes.co.kr