Three South Korean government sources said that North Korea and South Korea are negotiating to reopen the joint liaison office that Pyongyang dismantled last year and hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations.
A source who declined to be named due to diplomatic sensitivity said that since April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been exploring ways to improve tensions through multiple communications.
After three leaders’ summits in 2018 promised peace and reconciliation, these discussions marked an improvement in relations that have deteriorated over the past year.
The inter-Korean talks will also help restart the deadlocked negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, aimed at lifting North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
This issue is of vital importance to Moon Jae-in, who faced a decline in approval ratings during his final year in office. Moon Jae-in put his legacy on improving relations with North Korea and helped establish the historic meeting between Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.
After the 1950-53 conflict ended with a ceasefire, the two North Koreas were still technically at war, and the hotline that North Korea cut off in June last year was reconnected on Tuesday.
Two sources said that the two sides are discussing rebuilding a joint liaison office in the truce village of Panmunjom on the border. Pyongyang spectacularly destroyed the original office in its border town of Kaesong in 2020.
The source said that they are still seeking a summit between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, no time frame or other details were proposed.
North Korea has not confirmed any cases of COVID-19, but it has closed its borders and implemented strict preventive measures, treating the pandemic as a matter of national survival.
A source said: “Negotiations are still ongoing, and COVID-19 should be the biggest factor.” “A face-to-face meeting is the best, but hopefully things will get better.”
Moon Jae-in’s office declined to comment. His press secretary Park Soo-hyun said on Tuesday that the issue of resuming the liaison office will be discussed, and the leader has not yet proposed any plans for the summit.
Another source said that a virtual summit may be an option, depending on whether North Korea is reluctant to attend the meeting in person because of COVID-19.
“If we can do this, and North Korea has this ability, it will make a big difference and open so many windows of opportunity to restart negotiations with the United States.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, North Korea has not held any meetings with foreigners, restricted access to external media, and its mission to the United Nations was unable to comment.
‘CAnder‘ letter
Moon Jae-in once called for the restoration of the hotline and proposed a video summit with Kim Jong-un, but Pyongyang had previously publicly responded to severe criticism, saying it had no intention of dialogue with Seoul.
The first source stated that Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un have exchanged more than 10 “candid” letters, which led to the establishment of a communication channel between the Seoul intelligence service and Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jung.
Despite the “ups and downs” of the negotiations, the two sides agreed to reopen the hotline as the first step over the weekend.
The source said that Kim’s move reflects a willingness to respond to the US’s negotiation proposal because President Joe Biden’s government has vowed to take practical measures, including not appointing a special envoy for human rights issues in North Korea.
The source said: “There are some obvious factors, including the adoption of a phased, targeted action approach, rather than a big deal, and the appointment of nuclear negotiators instead of human rights envoys.” “After all, Washington has announced its policies. North Korea cannot sit back and watch, so the relationship between South Korea and North Korea is a starting point.”
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul declined to comment and forwarded the inquiry to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken stated in June that the Biden administration was determined to appoint a North Korean human rights envoy, but did not provide a timetable.
A spokesman said at the opening of the welcome hotline on Tuesday that Washington supports inter-Korean contacts and diplomacy is essential to achieving complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
A third source said that the two countries only announced the reopening of the hotline because little progress has been made on other issues, including how North Korea will apologize for blowing up the liaison office.
Affected by the pandemic and typhoon last year, North Korea is facing its worst economic crisis since the famine in the 1990s killed as many as 3 million people.
However, the first source said that due to China’s aid and the release of military and emergency reserves, there have been few reports of deaths due to hunger.
The source said that North Korea is expected to resume trade with China as early as August, involving freight train services, and the cancellation of the plan in April was mainly due to concerns about the more contagious variant of COVID-19.
Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and calls to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul were not answered.
