South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Monday in Seoul with U.S. special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and held what the Blue House called “very serious” discussions regarding the state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. Moon asked the diplomat to “make constant effort for progress in the Korean Peninsula peace process.”
The meeting came after what Biegun described as “hostile, negative and unnecessary” remarks recently issued by North Korean diplomats pushing Washington to reach an agreement before the end of the year, a timeline put in place by Kim in April. Biegun emphasized that “the U.S. does not have a deadline” and acknowledged “the strong potential for North Korea to conduct major provocations in the days ahead.”
“To say the least, such an action will be most unhelpful in achieving the lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he told reporters in Seoul. “But it does not have to be this way. It is not yet too late. We and the North Koreans have in our hands the ability to choose a better path.”
With just two weeks left in 2019, hopes for peace this year on the divided Korean Peninsula have begun to fade and concerns were growing as to how Kim would respond to what his government has seen as an unwillingness to compromise on the part of the Trump administration. Amid repeated warnings of a “countermeasure” in store, North Korea further hinted at its upcoming plans by announcing a new test at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground—the second such activity in a week.
“Our army is fully ready to thoroughly carry out any decision of the Supreme Leader with action,” Pak Jong Chon, the chief of the North Korean military’s general staff, said in remarks posted to the official Korean Central News Agency shortly after the test was announced. “It is free to evaluate the entity of our power, but it will be necessary to see it clearly before judgment.”
“In the situation of the acute confrontation, the U.S. and other hostile forces will spend the year-end in peace only when they hold off any words and deeds rattling us.,” he added.
The Sohae site, which was partially dismantled in the wake of Trump and Kim’s historic first summit in Singapore last year, has been known to host tests capable of advancing the country’s satellite and missile technologies. Both are outlawed by United Nations Security Council sanctions that North Korea does not recognize.
Two days before the latest test was revealed, experts writing for the Stimson Center’s 38 North monitor shared satellite imagery analysis indicating new activity at the Sohae station, including the appearance of what appeared to be a truck and a crane.
Though Pyongyang has not launched an intercontinental ballistic missile—or conducted a nuclear test—in two years, North Korea has stepped up short-range weapons testing and even conducted a rare submarine-launched ballistic missile test in October. The Trump administration has expressed concern about these developments but has fallen short of outright condemning Kim’s moves as it attempted to keep peace talks on track.
The White House’s strategy could change, however, especially if Kim were to end his self-imposed moratorium on longer-range missile and nuclear tests. Trump’s first year in office was marked with regular exchanges of nuclear-fueled threats with North Korea, only for tensions to calm as Kim reached out to South Korea during a New Year’s address.
Two years later, the North Korean ruler is likely again preparing to address his nation, along with the entire world, and recent messages indicate a more hard-line position toward negotiations that have so far left both nations unsatisfied.
