South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday he was taking his last year in office as the last opportunity to achieve lasting peace with North Korea, saying it was time to step into the suspended talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Moon's comments, in a speech that was in his fourth year as president, come ahead of his first summit with US President Joe Biden in Washington on May 21.
The South Korean president is expected to pressure the United States to join North Korea, although Biden has shown little interest in making North Korea a priority.
“I will take one year left of my time to be the last chance to move from incomplete peace to another irreparable one,” Moon said. "Now, the time for long talks is also about to end. It's time for us to take action."
Biden officials say their talks with Pyongyang have not been answered, and a recent policy review called for an "effective" way to use telecommunications to achieve targets has ultimately prompted North Korea to offer its nuclear weapons.
Moon said he welcomed the completion of the policy review and expressed "the view that the problem in negotiations is unpopular."
Biden, however, showed no signs of easing sanctions, which hampered Moon's efforts to launch economic and tourism projects with the North, and the White House has never appointed a special envoy to handle the matter.
Both Koreans are also affected by the ongoing fall of the coronavirus.
Faced with the drop in home voting numbers, Moon has promised the government that it will continue to increase spending if necessary to increase jobs, as the country faces the worst unemployment rate in two decades.
North Korea says it has no definite charges against the virus, but has imposed strict borders and travel restrictions that hamper trade and exacerbate economic problems.
Moon has made an appointment with North Korea as a signature project and appeared to be making progress in 2018 between conferences with leader Kim Jong Un, but as Moon enters his final year in office, Pyongyang shows a lack of interest in speaking.
The North Korean government has always criticized and ridiculed the South, and last year blew up the Korean communications office built in its area. But it has not tested nuclear weapons or long-range missiles since 2017.
In his speech, Moon said he did not think North Korea was rejecting the talks, but was looking forward to further reviewing U.S. policy.
Although three conferences between Korea and two in North Korea-U.S. the conferences since 2018 have not resolved nuclear issues, helped reduce tensions and maintained peace, and proved that political dialogue is key, he said.
"If there is an opportunity to restart the clock of peace and advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, I will do my best," Moon said. "I look forward to North Korea responding well."
Posts
