전문가들이 보는 북미 대화 교착 해결 위한 돌파구
Today marks exactly one year since the historic first encounter between U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
There have been positive developments since the Singapore summit... with North Korea ending its nuclear testing... and South Korea and the U.S. cutting down their joint military drills
But following the Hanoi summit in February,... such positive atmosphere somewhat sizzled out.
Our Lee Ji-won heard from experts for further analysis.
Communication between Pyeongyang and Washington was said to be ongoing behind doors even after the Hanoi summit fallout,...as shown by Kim Jong-un's recent letter to President Trump, announced earlier.
But despite this, senior U.S. officials' requests to resume denuclearization talks with the North seem to be going unanswered or declined, as they say there are no significant announcements to be made.
Thus, some pundits say that Pyeongyang holds the key to breaking the current impasse.
"I would say that the breakthrough will come when Kim Jong-un truly decides to denuclearize and shows some concrete actions. If the North continues to remain firm in its stance to only give up a part of its nuclear program, talks won't resume any time soon, and even they do, they won't lead to any kind of agreement."
But other experts, more lenient with Pyeongyang's attitude do not agree.
"In negotiations, when the weaker side bends in, it's called "surrendering". But when the stronger side yields, it's called "embracing." So it'd be easier to solve this impasse if the U.S. shows more flexibility in regards to the North's request, which has been, since the Hanoi summit, a guarantee to its sovereign safety. In that sense, the U.S. could choose to set up a joint liaison office or even declare a Peace Treaty."
While some experts said that both sides need to yield, one expert was very skeptical about these talks resuming and coming down to a deal.
"After all the propaganda on dealing with the U.S., it would be difficult for Kim to yield first. Such a move could be interpreted by North Koreans as their "supreme leader" admitting to having made a mistake. That is unacceptable. But the same goes for U.S. President Trump. After all the criticism of the previous administrations over their North Korea policies, it'd be hard for him to reward the North without any concrete denuclearization measures."
The expert added that a vicious cycle of provocation, tension, negotiation, and cooling, has been on repeat for 30 years,... and that this time is actually no different from the past.
Although experts differed in their approach regarding breakthrough, many were hopeful that the Moon-Trump summit slated for the end of the month, could become a turning point.
"There won't be any new messages coming out from the summit. But U.S. President Trump will likely continue to relay his friendly messages towards Kim Jong-un and I think it'd be a good opportunity for him to come back to the negotiat
