hankyoreh

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo of South Korea (left) and acting US Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim attend the first Korea-US Diplomacy Forum, held at Lotte Hotel Seoul on Nov. 20, 2025. (Yonhap)

After South Korean President Lee Jae Myung recently used the phrase “Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons” in place of “North Korea’s denuclearization” when discussing the North Korean nuclear issue, the acting US ambassador to Korea, Kevin Kim, reportedly raised concerns that such language could foster misunderstanding about tolerating North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

But under that standard, it’s the US government and President Donald Trump who are at fault for describing North Korea as a “nuclear power” and not making a single mention of the North Korean nuclear threat in the recently released National Security Strategy document.

During the Korea-US summit in late August, Lee earned Trump’s approval for his “peacemaker-pacemaker” narrative, which holds that North Korea-US relations will have to improve before any progress can be made on Korean Peninsula affairs. Surely, it’s a needless distraction for the acting US ambassador to have his say after the Korean and American leaders have already agreed to take a flexible attitude to break through the logjam in dialogue with North Korea.

The Hankyoreh learned Wednesday that Kim, in a recent meeting with senior Korean officials in the areas of foreign policy and national security, said that Lee ought to have spoken explicitly, instead of equivocally, about North Korea’s denuclearization. Kim reportedly added that such equivocations could send the wrong signal to the North.

In the launch ceremony for the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council on Dec. 2, Lee said, “I will continue working to end the state of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, pursue a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons and establish enduring peace. I will work to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through cooperation with the US.”

Kim asserted that the Korean president should not have used the phrase “Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons,” since that does not specify that North Korea is the country that needs to denuclearize.

The US’ acting ambassador reportedly also criticized Unification Minister Chung Dong-young’s push to “adjust” the joint military exercises that the US and South Korea are scheduled to hold in the first half of 2026.

In September 2022, North Korea unveiled a nuclear doctrine authorizing preliminary nuclear strikes. It has also refused to engage in any inter-Korean dialogue since late 2023, when it described South and North Korea as two hostile states.

As for dialogue with the US, North Korea has long specified that it will not engage in any dialogue oriented on denuclearization.

One assumes that when Trump describes North Korea as a “nuclear power” and brags about being on good terms with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he is looking for some kind of breakthrough for this situation.

In the end, Kim’s remarks imply that the US is the only country that gets to be flexible on the North Korean nuclear issue. That’s hardly a fair way to treat an ally.

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