hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, head to a New Year’s Eve celebratory performance in Pyongyang on Dec. 30, 2017. (KCTV)

In a statement released on July 10, Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said she is “of the view that the DPRK [North Korea]-US summit talks [are] not needed this year and beyond, and for our part, [are] not beneficial to us unless the US shows [a] decisive change in its [stance].”

Analysts have said the statement rules out the possibility of a North Korea-US summit being held this year. But in its totality, the statement actually holds open the possibility of a summit being held. Kim’s statement was released shortly after US President Donald Trump said he would hold a third summit with North Korea “if I thought it was going to be helpful” on July 7 and after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “we’re very hopeful that we can continue to have this conversation [with North Korea]” on July 9.

The first striking aspect of the statement is the way it splits up the roles of Kim Yo-jong and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, her older brother. “It is still my personal opinion; however, I doubt that things like the DPRK-US summit talks would happen this year,” Kim Yo-jong said pessimistically. But her next remarks left open the possibility of a summit: “A surprise [. . .] may still happen, depending upon the judgment and decision between the two top leaders.” These remarks suggest that the negative situation could be altered by Kim Jong-un’s decision. This division of roles has also played out recently in inter-Korean relations.

The statement indicated that North Korea intends to focus its negotiations with the US on the US ending its “policy of hostility” toward the North, saying that “there is no need for us to sit across with the US right now” and that that issue can “be decided when [. . .] major changes are made in the attitude of the US.” North Korea has long identified the South Korea-US joint military exercises as a central component of that “policy of hostility.” We believe that the joint exercises scheduled for next month need to be scaled down or canceled altogether to create the conditions for inter-Korean and North Korea-US dialogue.

Toward the end of the statement, Kim said that she hopes to “personally obtain [. . .] the DVD of the celebrations for [. . .] Independence Day” in the US. What might sound like a random remark is actually a proposal for contact between North Korea and the US, predicated on the delivery of that DVD. In such a situation, we need to preserve the spark of dialogue, no matter how small it may seem.

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]