North Korea keeps dialogue momentum alive in low-profile protest
North Korea issued a long-awaited response Monday to the South Korea-U.S. summit held May 21, slamming Washington's lifting of all restrictions on Seoul's missile development program.
But diplomatic observers 스포츠토토사이트 that despite the criticism, the "toned-down" delivery of its message left the door open for dialogue with the United States, while urging the Joe Biden administration to be more specific on its new policy toward the country.
President Moon Jae-in held his first summit with President Joseph Biden, during which the two heads of state agreed to end all guidelines that banned South Korea from developing or possessing missiles with a maximum flight range greater than 800 kilometers.
"The U.S., doggedly branding the measures taken by the DPRK for self-defense as violation of U.N. 'resolutions,' grants its allies unlimited right to missile development. It is engrossed in confrontation despite its lip-service to dialogue," said an article in the name of an individual commentator published by the Korean Central News Agency (KNCA). The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
"The termination step is a stark reminder of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and its shameful double-dealing," it said.
"Lots of countries now view the U.S. key DPRK policy, namely 'pragmatic approach' and 'maximum flexibility' produced by the Biden administration with much effort as just trickery."
This marked the belated first response from the North Korean regime despite growing questions over when it would respond to the summit that covered issues involving the North.
Despite North Korea's strong response, experts said Pyongyang did not kill chances for dialogue with the U.S.
"Although North Korea complained of the summit results, it seemed to have tried to tone down its hostility toward the U.S., given that its displeasure was expressed in the format of a KCNA article, not by (North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister) Kim Yo-jong, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon or Kwon Jong-gun, director general of the foreign ministry's Department of U.S. Affairs," said Cho Han-beom, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"Although the Biden administration has completed its review of policy toward North Korea, there has been no substance so far regarding how to deal with the North. In that sense, the Kim regime is pressuring the U.S. to make concrete proposals to it in terms of nuclear negotiations."
In late April, the Biden administration announced its completion of a months-long review of North Korean policy, and said it would now follow a new "calibrated and practical" approach that was open to, and would, explore diplomacy with the North.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, expressed a similar view.
"By denouncing the U.S.'s North Korea policy, or 'pragmatic approach' and 'maximum flexibility,' as just trickery, the North is urging the U.S. to go into details about its policy in terms of the nuclear talks," Park said.
The professor also said the Monday message carried extra significance.
"Although Moon and Biden discussed a range of North Korean issues, including sanctions and human rights issues, North Korea just took issue with the missile guidelines, which could be translated as Pyongyang using this to try to justify its missile program," Park said, citing the North Korea leader's pledge to develop tactical nuclear weapons during a ruling Workers' Party's congress in January.
In addition, the article said the end of the missile guidelines could be a threat to North Korea and neighboring countries, raising conjecture that it was protest against the removal of the guidelines on behalf of China.
"Frankly speaking, a flight range of over 800 kilometers is not a new threat to North Korea and its reference to the missile guidelines is seen as representing a complaint from China," Park said.