The man who helped broker two historic summits between the U.S. and North Korea now wants to help bring President Biden back to the table with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
During an interview with the New York Times, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the White House should resume talks with North Korea quickly. Mr. Moon, who is set to meet with Mr. Biden at the White House next month, also warned that the declining relationship between the U.S. and China could be a roadblock to any denuclearization talks.
“If tensions between the United States and China intensify, North Korea can take advantage of it and capitalize on it.”
South korean President moon jae-in
This all comes as the White House refocuses American foreign policy on East Asia. Biden met with Japan’s prime minister last week in hopes of shoring up the bond between both countries, and sending a message to China.
The South Korean leader also talked during the interview about former president Donald Trump and his attempts to wrangle an agreement with the famously taciturn North Korean government. Mr. Trump made a big deal about playing up his personal relationship with Kim Jung Un — “we fell in love”, he would say at rallies — but ultimately, his meetings with the dictator accomplished almost nothing. North Korea didn’t get rid of any nuclear armaments, and also resumed nuke tests.
South Korea’s president acknowledged that Trump’s approach flopped.
The interview served not only as a request for discussions about a topic supremely important to his country, but also as an attempt to shore up Mr. Moon’s legacy for diplomatic mediation during his final year in office. He sees Biden taking a much more traditional approach to denuclearization talks, as opposed to Trump’s more unconventional style, which Mr. Moon once thought would be an asset. Now he has to hope a return to conventional negotiations, one where advisors play a bigger role, can help secure stability for his country.
“I hope that Biden will go down as a historic president that has achieved substantive and irreversible progress for the complete denuclearization and peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.”