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Noh Kyu-duk (R), South Korea’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, chats with Sung Kim (L), U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, during their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea on June 21, 2021. Jung Yeon-Je / Pool via REUTERS
SEOUL, June 22 (Reuters) – The United States and South Korea have agreed to consider removing a task force set up to coordinate North Korean policy, the Seoul Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after it became seen as a way for Washington to block inter-Korean relations. projects.
During talks between US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim and his South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk on Monday, the two men agreed to “consider ending the task force” while strengthening coordination at other levels, the ministry said in a statement.
On Monday, Kim said he was ready to meet the North Koreans “anywhere, anytime without preconditions” and looked forward to a “positive response soon”. He was due to meet with South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young, who is in charge of relations with the North, on Tuesday.
The task force was established in 2018 to help the two allies coordinate their approaches on issues such as denuclearization talks, humanitarian assistance, sanctions enforcement and inter-Korean relations amid a wave diplomatic engagements with North Korea at the time.
Asked last year about Seoul’s proposals such as reopening individual tourism to its northern neighbor, then-US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said that “in order to avoid a more misunderstanding later that might trigger sanctions … better run this through the task force.
Although Harris added that it was not for the United States to approve South Korean decisions, the remarks sparked controversy in Seoul and a former aide to South Korean President Moon Jae-in later said in Parliament that the task force was increasingly seen as an obstacle to interdependence. Korean relations.
The Moon administration would view the end of the task force as a goodwill gesture on the part of new US President Joe Biden, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korean expert at King’s College London.
“From a South Korean perspective, this was basically a mechanism for the United States to block inter-Korean projects during the Trump years,” he said. “It would be a smart political move for the Biden administration to end the group, since the consultation between Washington and Seoul will take place anyway.”
Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Michael Perry
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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