March 5–Delegates from South Korea traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea today to meet with Kim Jong-un., the country’s supreme leader. It was the first meeting South Korean officials have had with the rogue leaders since 2011.
The diplomatic trip is a sign of the warming relations between the two countries since their athletes and government officials came together during the 2018 Winter Olympics, which South Korea hosted.
The South Korean delegation includes 10 government officials, including two ministerial-level envoys: Intelligence Chief Suh Hoon, National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong and Vice Minister for Unification Chun Haesung.
Ri Son-gwon, North Korea’s chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, met them at the airport. And Mr. Kim hosted them for dinner, according to multiple news sites.
Talking Nukes and More Dialogue
Beyond the initial dinner, details of the meetings are not yet known.
The goal of South Korea and the United States is for North Korea to disable and remove its nuclear weapons.
South Korean President Moon spoke by phone with U.S. President Trump late last week. According to the U.S. State Department, the two leaders “noted their firm position that any dialogue with North Korea must be conducted with the explicit and unwavering goal of complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”
South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong told reporters prior to leaving for North Korea that delegates would advocate for that during their meetings.
“We’ll deliver Moon’s strong determination to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and realize permanent peace here by maintaining and developing inter-Korean talks and improved relations, which were created by the Olympics,” Chung said, according to several news outlets including the Korean Times. The news site reported that Chung and Suh are scheduled to travel to the United States within the week to discuss their meetings with Washington.
Sport Diplomacy: Symbolism or Substance?
The brief merging of athletes from South Korea and North Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics offered an opening for diplomacy.
The two countries have made efforts to improve relations starting with Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s address in which he announced his country would participate in the games and not conduct nuclear tests while they were happening.
Following that, South Korea extended an olive branch of its own. Its Ministry of Unification budgeted $2.6 million to host North Korean athletes and officials during the February 9-25 games in PyeongChang.
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Meanwhile, as the two Korean countries played nice, the United States launched a new round of unilateral sanctions against North Korea. A February 23 Treasury Department statement called them the “largest North Korea-related sanctions” yet to maximize pressure on the regime.
It targets 27 entities and 28 shipping vessels. In addition to North Korea, they are registered or flagged from the following countries: China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama, and Comoros.
“Treasury is aggressively targeting all illicit avenues used by North Korea to evade sanctions, including taking decisive action to block the vessels, shipping companies, and entities across the globe that work on North Korea’s behalf,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “The president has made it clear to companies worldwide that if they choose to help fund North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, they will not do business with the United States.”
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