On September 24, local time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister Kim Yo-jung said that if conditions are met and South Korea abandons its “hostile” position, North Korea is willing to resume negotiations with South Korea. This shows that North Korea wants South Korea to persuade the United States to relax its severe economic sanctions against North Korea.
Just a few days before Kim Yo-jung issued the above statement, North Korea conducted its first missile test in six months. Some experts said that North Korea’s move is intended to show that if US-led sanctions continue and nuclear diplomacy remains at a stalemate, then North Korea will continue to increase its nuclear arsenal.
Kim Yu-jung offered the possibility of negotiation while ignoring South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s speech at the UN General Assembly-the latter called for a political declaration to formally end the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and bring the Korean peninsula to life. Come to peace.
North Korea’s official media quoted Kim Yo-jung’s statement as saying, “For someone, squeezing out a reluctant smile, reading the declaration to end the war, and taking photos may be an indispensable link, but I think that given the current situation Inequality, serious contradictions and hostility, they do not have much sincerity, and nothing will change.”
Kim Yo-jung also said, “Under such circumstances, it does not make any sense to keep all the issues that may have caused a war between the parties that have been at odds for more than half a century and declare the end of the war.”
She also stated that North Korea is willing to resume a “constructive” dialogue with South Korea to discuss how to improve and repair the tension between the two sides under certain conditions.
She added, “What needs to be discarded is the two-faced attitude, illogical prejudice, bad habits, and hostile stance, that is, while defending their actions, they also accuse us of legitimately exercising our right to self-defense.”
“Only when such prerequisites are met, we can sit down face to face, announce the official end of this war, and discuss issues such as North-South relations and the future of the Korean Peninsula.”
The Ministry of Unification of South Korea stated that it is carefully studying Kim Yo-jung’s statement. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement stating that South Korea will continue its efforts to restore relations with North Korea.
Al Jazeera reporter Rob McBride reported from Seoul that this may be an important statement made by North Korea.
He added, “This may be very important because it does come from Kim Yoo-jung, and Kim Yo-jung has always been one of the more critical and uncompromising voices in the North Korean leadership when North Korea’s dealings with South Korea and the United States.”
“This is of course very different from what we saw a week ago. At that time, within a few hours of the same day, the North Korean and South Korean armies successively tested new missiles. So, it at least seems to be an improvement now. “
On September 15, local time, a few hours after North Korea launched two missiles, South Korea also announced that it had conducted the first underwater test of ballistic missiles.
Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, pointed out to the Associated Press that Kim Yo-jung’s remarks on the 24th were intended to indirectly exert pressure on the South Korean side in negotiations to ease sanctions.
Nan Shengyu said, “It’s like North Korea is saying that if the issue of lifting sanctions can be discussed, then it will welcome negotiations for an end-of-war declaration.”
The most serious crisis
When North Korea conducted provocative nuclear and missile tests during 2016-2017, sanctions led by the United States became more stringent. Kim Jong Un stated that sanctions, the new crown epidemic and natural disasters are creating “the worst in history in North Korea.” “The crisis.
From a technical point of view, North Korea and the United States are still at war because the Korean War ended in the form of an armistice agreement rather than a peace treaty. North Korea has always hoped to sign a peace treaty with the United States to formally end this war and improve relations between the two countries. Some experts said that the peace treaty may allow North Korea to request the United States to withdraw its 28,500 soldiers deployed in South Korea and relax sanctions against North Korea.
After North Korea and the United States began diplomatic contact in 2018, both North Korea and South Korea called for the issuance of an end-of-war declaration and the signing of a peace treaty. At the time, there was speculation that the then-U.S. President Donald Trump might declare the war ended in early 2019. Persuade Kim Jong Un to make a promise to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
After Trump rejected Kim Jong-un’s request to cancel updates and stricter sanctions with limited denuclearization measures, this diplomatic contact subsequently fell into a deadlock, so no such declaration or statement was issued. Some experts said that after lifting these sanctions, North Korea will find no reason for denuclearization.
The negotiation opportunity provided by Kim Yu-jung is in stark contrast to a bold statement issued by a senior North Korean diplomat earlier on the 24th. The statement stated that the end-of-war statement may be just a “smokescreen” to cover up hostile US policies-usually referring to sanctions and the US military presence in South Korea.
Last week, North Korea conducted its first cruise missile and ballistic missile test launch since March this year to demonstrate its ability to launch attacks on South Korea and Japan. South Korea and Japan are two key allies of the United States, with nearly 80,000 American soldiers stationed in these two countries.
However, North Korea continues to suspend nuclear tests and long-range missile tests directed at the United States. This sign shows that North Korea hopes to retain the opportunity to engage in diplomatic contacts with the United States in the future.
Seo Yu-Seok, a scholar at the Institute of Korean Studies, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, told the Associated Press, “North Korea believes that it has not crossed the red line set by the United States… so it said that if the conditions (for lifting the sanctions) are ripe, then it can Participate in negotiations.”
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