North Korea Desires Action Not Words
As President Trump entered office for a second term, DPRK political experts were hopeful that his re-election could usher in a new era of peace talks between the U.S. and the DPRK. With President Trump being the only U.S. President in office to have met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, it was assumed that the DPRK would be willing to re-enter into negotiations.
But despite President Trump suggesting a re-opening in relationship and the State Department attempting to re-initiate talks, the DPRK has yet to respond. DPRK officials in New York have rejected letters sent from President Trump to Chairman Kim Jong Un on multiple occasions. These letters aimed at reopening communication channels between Washington and Pyongyang, but North Korean diplomats have refused to accept them.
President Trump’s Letter to Chairman Kim
Even with this stone walling, stars seem to be re-aligning again for a peace summit on the Korean Peninsula. On June 4, President Lee Jae-myung was elected as South Korea’s new president. President Lee took office after the rocky impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Just hours after his inauguration, President Lee vowed to “unite the people of Korea”, establishing a strategic agenda for his presidency.
President Lee is attempting to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, President Moon Jae-in, who served as South Korean president at the time of the Singapore Summit. It was at the Singapore Summit that President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un met for the first time and initiated what was expected to be politically-altering dialogue.
Prior to Singapore, President Moon Jae-in kicked off inter-country peace talks by meeting Chairman Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border on April 27, 2018. These talks then opened the pathway for the Singapore Summit to follow in June of 2018. Unfortunately, the consequently following Hanoi Summit in 2019 was a complete failure, and afterwards U.S.-DPRK relations spiraled downwards.
Now President Lee is making gestures towards re-fostering trust and peace with the DPRK. South Korea halted propaganda transmissions into a North Korean border village this past Wednesday. North Korea has responded in kind by immediately shutting down their own broadcasts the following day. This perhaps indicates that North Korea is open to making reciprocal moves towards other friendly gestures.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung Taking Office
Although loudspeaker broadcasts are not a core issue in inter-Korean relations, it is a significant change which suggests a willingness to de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. With increased military provocations, tensions rose during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s time in office, and U.S.-DPRK relations remain at a stand-still even today.
Instead of putting words in letters, the U.S. could first take actionable steps. Indeed, the reason why the Hanoi Summit fell apart in the first place is because of U.S.’s refusal to compromise. At the time, the U.S. rejected DPRK’s demands, even though these negotiations included the complete dismantling of DPRK’s uranium enrichment site. As a result, the DPRK still expects the U.S. to lift five key sanctions, all of which were separate from sanctions that targeted weapons sales and transfers.
The Hanoi summit was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It will be difficult to go back to the negotiation table. The DPRK is no longer interested in talking. They want action.
Like South Korea, the U.S. could take several actionable steps to send a positive signal to Pyongyang. These actions could include but are not limited to lifting the U.S. travel ban to the DPRK, passing the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, H.R.1841, calling for a binding peace agreement to formally end the Korean War, as well as lifting sanctions little by little, according to DPRK’s response.
What will be important is that a positive step towards peace is made. As my husband and I have experienced through our 18 years of engagement with the DPRK, meaningful engagement with North Korea requires long-term investment, flexibility, and determination. We have stuck it out during times of silence and frustration, even years of border closures during COVID-19. On multiple occasions, we have had to re-negotiate with our North Korean counterparts for the work that our organization does for children and other vulnerable populations in the country. It has forced us to rethink our own demands as well as increased our determination for what matters most, which in our case is the treatment and care for children with developmental disabilities.
Although humanitarian discussions pales in comparison to state-to-state negotiations, the same principles can prove true. The Hanoi summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-Un may have failed, but as long as the U.S. is willing to make tangible changes towards a peaceful future, a diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and North Korea may be possible, after all.