| Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn shakes hands with U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung, Joint Press Corps
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must now decide whether to move forward with the stalled nuclear dialogue with the United States, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Monday.
"I believe that President Donald Trump has made his position very clear to Chairman Kim," Harris said during a meeting with main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) chief Hwang Kyo-ahn. "And the ball is now in Chairman Kim's court."
After the meeting with the LKP head, Harris had a press conference at his residence in Seoul where he shared his views on the recent Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim.
"There was nothing good enough about the deal that Kim Jong-un offered on the table," Harris said. "That was not a choice between big deal and good enough deal. That was a choice between no deal and a bad deal, and President Trump made the right decision in choosing to make a no deal."
The remarks came amid the ongoing stalemate in denuclearization dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
Both sides had maintained months of momentum on denuclearization negotiations since Trump and Kim held the historic Singapore summit last June.
The rare atmosphere for reconciliation between the decades-long enemies appeared to remain in place until the breakdown of their second summit in February. But with neither side signing a deal during the much-anticipated Hanoi meeting, North Korea has in recent weeks expressed a deep sense of discontent by ramping up criticism of what the North calls Washington's "unilateral dialogue style."
Despite the ongoing deadlock in nuclear talks, Hwang and Harris agreed to continue to maintain the security alliance between Seoul and Washington.
"Let me assure you that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is as strong as ever," Harris said.
Hwang also responded by saying the security alliance between the two nations should always remain unwavering.
"Both I and the LKP understand the importance of the bilateral alliance," Hwang said. "The alliance should remain in place and never be swayed."
Harris also expressed gratitude for the National Assembly ratifying a one-year deal between the South and the U.S. over defense cost sharing.
This was the first time the allies have renewed the defense cost sharing deal since Trump took office in 2017. Seoul and Washington had negotiated for almost a year to sign the 2019 Special Measures Agreement due to Washington's intensifying pressure urging Seoul to shoulder much more of the burden for maintaining 28,500 members of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).
Harris thanked Hwang for helping the Assembly to ratify the deal earlier this month.
Hwang also expressed a sense of concern over the North's real intentions behind the nuclear talks with the U.S.
"Some raise concerns that the North is delaying the timeline for its denuclearization, in a move to gain nuclear power status," Hwang said.
But Harris declined to comment in detail about these concerns, only saying the ball is on the North's side in the wake of the failed Hanoi summit.