The South Korean president must proceed on two fronts: trying to engage a hostile Pyongyang while strengthening cooperation with the US and Japan
Lee’s North Korea policy, as it currently stands, is based on three broad goals: restoring communication with Pyongyang, close cooperation with its allies the US and Japan, and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
In this regard, the Lee administration has proposed a phased road map for achieving denuclearisation. It envisions freezing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes as the first step, reduction of arms as the second, and complete denuclearisation as the final step.
South Korea removes border loudspeakers in push for peace with the North
However, Lee’s overtures have found little appreciation in Pyongyang. Speaking at a gathering of North Korean diplomats last week, North Korean official Kim Yo-jong stated that Seoul “cannot be a diplomatic partner” to Pyongyang. Kim, who is the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, further criticised South Korea’s overtures as a deceptive “appeasement offensive”.
