Panelists discuss the prospects of the U.S. presidential election and implications for South Korea during a forum hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a Seoul-based association representing senior journalists, April 24. Yonhap

The next U.S. administration, whether of Joe Biden or Donald Trump, could consider arms control or disarmament options for North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, as the reality suggests that denuclearization no longer appears to be viable, an expert said Wednesday.

Cha Tae-suh, a political science professor at Sungkyunkwan University, made the remark at a forum on the prospects of the Korean Peninsula after the U.S. November presidential election, citing the recent mention of "interim steps" by some U.S. officials as a possible signal that such an option could be on the table.

"At the government level, the U.S. and South Korea still say denuclearization is the final goal, but the private sectors, like U.S. think tanks, say that denuclearization is impossible and we should talk about the 'Plan B,'" Cha said during the forum hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a Seoul-based association of senior journalists.

"I think the 'interim steps' are what has most frequently been talked about, among the Plan Bs, that we leave the denuclearization as a distant goal and move on to some sort of nuclear arms control or nuclear disarmament," he said.

Talk of "interim steps" gained traction after Mira Rapp-Hooper, the U.S. National Security Council senior director for East Asia and Oceania, said at a forum last month that Washington will consider such steps, a statement that raised speculation of its policy shift on North Korea's denuclearization.

Questions have arisen whether the interim steps would mean Washington taking a more flexible approach to deliver on its commitment to the nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Cha predicted that such an option will likely be considered no matter who wins the White House, as the nature of the North's nuclear issue is already shifting to an issue of deterrence rather than denuclearization.

"If Trump wins, he will go to the direction fast, and I believe the Biden administration, if reelected, could turn its head in that direction," Cha said.

Seo Jung-kun, a political science professor at Kyunghee University, forecast that Trump could seek another summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un, possibly after the midterm election in 2027.

Should Biden stay in the White House, the North Korea issue is very unlikely to be among his foreign policy priorities, which could give Pyongyang "more time" to advance its nuclear weapons capabilities, Seo said.

"We need to proactively think about what measures we can take, and think how we can lead, in terms of the relationship with the United States and with North Korea," he said. (Yonhap)