US hopes N. Korea will respond to US outreach for dialogue, Sung Kim says

Kim said during meetings with South Korea and Japan's senior envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue on Monday

A trilateral meeting of South Korean, US and Japanese envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue takes place Monday at a hotel in Seoul. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Sung Kim, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea, said that the US hopes that “the DPRK will respond positively for our outreach and our offer to meet anywhere, anytime without preconditions” during meetings with South Korea and Japan’s senior envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue on Monday. Kim is currently on a trip to South Korea.

Kim described US policy as calibrated, practical, and open to diplomacy with North Korea prior to a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at a hotel in Seoul on Monday.

Kim sent another message asking North Korea to come to the table for dialogue in an earlier meeting on the same day with Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs.

Significantly, Sung Kim also responded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s remarks about the North needing to “be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation.” Sung Kim said he hopes Kim Jong-un’s remarks indicate that the North will respond positively to the US’ overtures.

The American envoy went on to say that the US “will be prepared for either” — that is, dialogue and confrontation — underscoring Kim Jong-un’s remarks about dialogue.

But he also said the US will continue to implement UN Security Council resolutions until North Korea engages with the US.

In his opening remarks, Noh Kyu-duk said that “South Korea and the US will continue to play the role needed to quickly resume dialogue with North Korea through consultation and coordination.”

Following deliberations on Monday, Sung Kim said that he’d reiterated the US’ support for inter-Korean dialogue, cooperation and engagement.

Sung Kim, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea (left), South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong (center) and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jung Pak (right) pose for a photo on Monday at the foreign minister’s residence in Seoul. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

After their bilateral meeting, Kim and Noh held a trilateral meeting with Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japan’s senior envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue. Subsequently, there was also a meeting between Noh and Funakoshi.

In an interview with ABC on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Kim Jong-un’s recent remarks were an “interesting signal.”

“We are awaiting a clear signal from Pyongyang as to whether they are prepared to sit down at the table,” Sullivan said.

That was the first specific response by a senior American official to Kim Jong-un’s indication that he’s open to dialogue in his reference to being “prepared for both dialogue and confrontation” in the 3rd Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Thursday.

“The clear signal they could send is to say, yes, let’s do it. Let’s sit down and begin negotiations,” Sullivan said.

“We think that [...] there’s no substitute for diplomacy to begin to make progress towards that ultimate objective — the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter 

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