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| From left are Amb. Joseph DeTrani, former U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks with North Korea, Dr. Morton Halperin, former director of the policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State and Prof. Moon Chung-in of Yonsei University who is also special adviser to President Moon Jae-in participating at a seminar titled 'Making a Breakthrough for the North Korean Stalemate in the Post-Hanoi Era,' held at the Four Seaons Hotel Seoul in central Seoul, Tuesday. The Seoul-based think tank East Asia Foundation organized the seminar. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min |
By Jung Da-min
The United States and North Korea should resume their denuclearization negotiations soon if they want to make a breakthrough that would save February's Hanoi summit from being another failure in the 25 years of negotiation history between the two countries, long-time North Korea watchers based in Washington said at a seminar held in Seoul, Tuesday.
"I don't think the Hanoi summit was a failure but it gave us the very clarity on the ongoing issues that have to be pursued," said Amb. Joseph DeTrani, former U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks with North Korea, at the seminar titled "Making a Breakthrough for the North Korean Stalemate in the Post-Hanoi Era," held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.
"The point of this session here is, 'Don't walk away like we did in the past.'"
The Seoul-based East Asia Foundation think tank organized the seminar inviting DeTrani and Dr. Morton Halperin, former director of policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State, for the debate moderated by Prof. Moon Chung-in of Yonsei University who is also special adviser to President Moon Jae-in.
DeTrani and Halperin both said the Hanoi summit was not a failure but rather a natural part of the dynamics and fluctuating situation on the Korean Peninsula that could again lead to another round of negotiations with enough willingness and preparation by the two sides.
"[The Hanoi summit results] should be the basis for the negotiations moving forward the United States and DPRK, that is the framework that should be within the hard case at the Singapore communication that the goal is the denuclearization [of the Korean Peninsula] and complete change of the relationship," Halperin said.
"The reasonable first step is dismantlement of the Yongbyon facility with the appropriate lessening of sanctions as quite a bit, clearly not all of the sanctions."
DeTrani said, "It takes a number of years to come up with agreements … and historically surfing on the past 25 years, we've been able to walk away from them … completely quickly, all those years."
He added that the reason for the "failure" of the Hanoi summit was very clear as the two sides were lacking in preparation and not committed to renegotiating while neither side fully understood the other.
"They are survivors of the regime and the government of DPRK, they need the security insurance of the regime and the economic development that needs to the trust and confidence building measure," he said.
"As for the United States and Republic of Korea, they want complete verifying of denuclearization of North Korea."
Speakers at the forum said that the U.S. and North Korea should not hasten to go to a third summit but should focus more on building a long-term roadmap that will lead to the fundamental transformation of U.S.-North Korea relations.
"The transformation of U.S.-DPRK relations starts with giving up hostile-intended policy," said Moon, saying the most important indicator of a hostile-intent policy is economic sanctions on the North Korean regime, calling for the U.S. to lift sanctions even partially, if not all.
"There's a fundamental difference between the U.S. and North Korea. The U.S. sees that without complete denuclearization, there is no sanctions relief. Even President Trump made the point in Tokyo yesterday. But the North Korean position is that sanctions relief is a starting point. And here comes the fundamental difference."
