gettyimagesbank

Moon's repeated calls directed at Biden administration: experts

By Kang Seung-woo

President Moon Jae-in's repeated calls to officially end the Korean War indicate his administration's determination to continue with diplomatic attempts to resuscitate stalled talks between the United States and North Korea and eventually advance deadlocked inter-Korean ties, even if the U.S. undergoes a leadership change, Pyongyang watchers said, Friday.

Moon suggested in his speech to the Korea Society, Thursday, that South Korea and the U.S. join forces to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war, saying it will open the door for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Last month, Moon also floated the idea in his address to the virtual U.N. General Assembly session.

The Korean War ended in an armistice after an agreement was signed in 1953 by the U.S.-led United Nations Command, China and North Korea, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war, and the Moon administration has touted an end-of-war declaration as a starting point for a full-fledged peace process.

However, the U.S. and the North have yet to respond to his repeated calls. And his proposal has faced criticism domestically for being ill-timed, following the shooting death of a South Korean official by North Korean troops in the North's territorial waters last month and the belated disclosure of a high-profile former North Korean diplomat's defection to the South.

Motives behind North Korean leader's contradictory messages 2020-10-11 16:49  |  North Korea
"President Moon's reiterated calls signal that the South Korean government is set to continually promote the issue to engage the U.S. with the North even if a Joe Biden administration is sworn in," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

The U.S. election will be held on Nov. 3, with President Donald Trump seeking reelection against former Vice President Biden.

"Given that the declaration to end the Korean War is the most typical form of top-down diplomacy between the two leaders of the U.S. and the North, it would be a more daunting task under the leadership of Biden, who has criticized such an approach by President Trump," Park added.

Kim Jung, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, also said that the South Korean government is focused on maintaining momentum for the U.S.-North denuclearization talks in case of a new American president taking office. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump have met with each other on three occasions, but the bilateral ties have frayed since the Hanoi summit ended without a deal in February 2019.

"Biden has said he would not meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un without any preconditions and considering his past remarks on the North, he is unlikely to adopt Trump's unorthodox approach toward the North," he said.

"Nevertheless, the Moon administration is seeking to broker at least a senior-level meeting between the U.S. and the North while Trump is in office in order to keep the dialogue momentum going even if a Biden administration comes to power."

"When leaders base a policy on?ideology, they tend not to adjust to new facts, but instead see developments through their existing framework. By this logic, North Korea's?transgressions call for more engagement," said Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University.

"Trust-building requires consistency even when domestic politics interrupt?diplomacy. Moon's recent calls for peace may be a placeholder waiting for North Korea to address internal challenges before Pyongyang takes a new?approach toward the next U.S. administration. The problem is, prospects for peace may worsen before improving, prompting a shift in South Korea's?own domestic politics."

Park, who believes Moon's Korean Peninsula peace process initiative has nothing to offer other than ending the Korean War, said the repeated calls are based on the acknowledgement that inter-Korean relations cannot advance without better ties between the U.S. and the North.

"The North Korean regime has subordinated its relations with the South to those with the U.S. In that respect, Moon has called for an end-of-war declaration as the U.S. and the North, along with China, are involved in the issue," he said.

"However, both sides do not seem interested in his proposal at this point."