A senior official in the U.S. Joe Biden administration said that it is willing to discuss ‘interim steps’ in the denuclearization process when denuclearization negotiations with North Korea resume in the future. This is a step that was not raised during North Korea’s denuclearization negotiations in 2018, raising the possibility that the United States may have established a new North Korean nuclear strategy.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior adviser for East Asia and Oceania at the White House National Security Council (NSC), said in a special conversation at the JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum 2024 on the 4th, “The goal of the United States is the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” “However, we are willing to consider intermediate steps toward denuclearization if it can make regions around the world safer.”
This statement was made in response to a question from CSIS Senior Vice Director Victor Cha, who said, “Will there be an opportunity for diplomacy with North Korea this year?” and that some experts are of the opinion that since North Korea is a “nuclear state,” it should attempt threat reduction and disarmament instead of the goal of denuclearization. It came out in the process of doing.
Senior Advisor Reb-Hooper also said, “We are ready and willing to discuss ‘threat reduction’ with North Korea, especially considering the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
He continued, “It will take time to achieve this kind of progress,” but emphasized, “We must return to the path of reducing and ultimately eliminating the threat posed by North Korea’s destabilizing actions as soon as possible.”
Current President Joe Biden, who took office in January 2021, has sought dialogue with North Korea through the so-called ‘well-coordinated pragmatic approach’ based on the results of a review of the North Korea policy of previous US administrations.
Although ‘unconditional dialogue’ has been proposed to North Korea, it has been reported that no meaningful dialogue has taken place between the United States and the United States to date.
Meanwhile, there is analysis that Senior Advisor Rapp-Hooper’s remarks indicate that the Biden administration may be considering or may have already established a new approach to North Korea.
At the same time, it is pointed out that the possibility that this is a kind of diplomatic rhetoric aimed at attracting North Korea, which is not responding to dialogue, cannot be ruled out.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.