Unification ministry holds unprecedented high-level meeting with US State Department

In the past, the unification ministry had to have the foreign ministry convey its opinions to the US

South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young delivers a celebratory remark at a forum event on inter-Korean business relations held Monday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul. (Yonhap News)

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification and the US State Department held a high-level bilateral meeting to coordinate their North Korea policy while Sung Kim, the US’ special representative for North Korea, is visiting South Korea.

It’s unprecedented for officials at different levels of the US State Department to meet with their counterparts in Korea’s unification ministry rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This brings together the South Korean and US government bodies in charge of North Korea policy.

This is part of a multifaceted effort to follow up on the agreement reached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in their summit on May 21 to synchronize their approaches to North Korea.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young received Sung Kim Tuesday.

“Following Sung Kim’s reception with Minister Lee, Kim and Vice Minister Choi Young-joon will convene for a bilateral meeting of senior officials on North Korea policy from the unification ministry and the State Department,” Lee Jong-ju, spokesperson for the unification ministry, said Monday.

“During this meeting, the two officials will share their assessments of recent developments in North Korea and discuss a wide range of ways to advance the Korean Peninsula peace process, including humanitarian aid and reunions for families divided by the Korean War.”

Then on Wednesday, a bureau chief-level meeting will be held between Kim Jun-pyo, a policy cooperation official with the unification ministry, and Jung Pak, the US deputy special representative for North Korea.

Sung Kim, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea (left), Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs (center) and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, return to their seats after posing for a photo during a trilateral meeting among them on Monday at a hotel in Seoul. (Yonhap News)

These bilateral meetings between mid-level and senior officials at the unification ministry and the State Department represent a method of communication that’s strikingly different than the one used in the Trump administration.

In November 2018, following three inter-Korean summits and the first North Korea-US summit, South Korea and the US launched a working group that was supposed to serve as the primary channel between the foreign ministry and the State Department. The two sides then used their working group to coordinate their North Korea policy.

Under this approach, the unification ministry had to have the foreign ministry convey its opinions to the US.

But these bilateral deliberations between the unification ministry and the State Department represent a different approach under which the unification ministry can directly present its opinions to the State Department and make a case for them.

Unification Minister Lee In-young had reportedly made a big push to organize these unprecedented bilateral meetings between the unification ministry and the State Department.

The South Korea-US Working Group allows the two governments to coordinate their North Korea policy closely. But at the same time, critics continue to assert that the US has exploited the working group to control and constrain South Korean outreach to the North.

The bilateral deliberations between the unification ministry and the State Department aren’t replacing the working group, however. Instead, South Korea and the US are currently discussing how to adjust the working group’s function and character.

“These deliberations are separate from the current South Korea-US Working Group,” an official with the unification ministry said.

“Moving forward, the unification ministry means to keep advancing the Korean Peninsula peace process through deliberations with the US at each level,” said Lee Jong-ju, the unification ministry spokesperson.

The spokesperson’s remarks suggest that the ministry wants to make its deliberations with the State Department a regular event rather than a one-time occurrence.

Unification Minister Lee In-young has often opined that inter-Korean relations should play a leading role in reactivating and advancing the Korean Peninsula peace process and unification. And for that to happen, Lee says, “the flexible application of sanctions” is critical.

Considering that, the unification ministry might use its talks with the State Department to directly broach the possibility of taking baby steps toward resuming tourism to Mt. Kumgang and business operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, both of which have been suspended for years.

By Lee Je-hoon, senior staff writer

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