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| In this June 28, 2019, photo, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is seen during a meeting with South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. AP-Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung, Kim Yoo-chul
With U.S. President Donald Trump naming Washington's special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun as second-in-command at the State Department, the key focus is on whether he will retain his "Pyongyang" portfolio and how his promotion will affect the nuclear disarmament talks.
Political analysts in Seoul said Friday that Biegun's move and a continuity in the handling of the North Korea nuclear issue would be helpful in terms of maintaining Washington's approach.
Biegun is known to have preferred pursuing a "dovish, reasonable and deal-for-deal" approach to the matter. He consistently said Washington understands the consequences if diplomacy fails by stressing that the outcome of the diplomatic processes would have ramifications well beyond the Korean Peninsula.
Biegun left the door open to transforming the U.S. relationship with North Korea, however, that can only be achieved if Pyongyang is also willing to fulfill its repeated commitment to achieving fully verified denuclearization.
In September, Biegun said that through direct engagement, Washington "must create" space and momentum for diplomacy.
"Between the United States and North Korea, there has long been too little communication, too much room for miscalculation and misunderstanding, and almost no room at all for error," he said at the University of Michigan.
South Korea's ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuck told the South Korean media in Washington that the United States and North Korea "don't appear to have had closed-door talks" after the two failed to reach an agreement in Stockholm, Sweden, last month.
"I believe it's premature to say the Stockholm talks were a complete failure. But I didn't think there is anything to prejudge," Lee told reporters, sharing the specifics of a meeting with Biegun.
"At the meeting, Biegun told me that he was hoping to carry on handling the North Korea nuclear issue," Lee said. Biegun will replace outgoing Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan.
Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute of Policy Studies in Seoul, said Biegun's promotion is not necessarily a worst-case scenario for the denuclearization negotiations.
"U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Biegun appear to have a tight grip on the Trump administration's North Korea policies. The worst thing for the U.S. to do is to sign any deal that appeases the North," Shin said, stressing that Washington should never sign a "political deal" with Pyongyang.
Initially, Biegun received an unwelcome response from North Korea. But he accompanied Pompeo several times on visits there; and is also said to have started a solid partnership with presidential aides here, including National Security Office Director Chund Eui-yong and second deputy Kim Hyun-chong.
Biegun also was a "hidden force" in setting up the logistics and narrowing the differences between Washington and Pyongyang for high-profile bilateral meetings. Presidential aides said Biegun's team handling Pyongyang issues was on track to hold an unofficial meeting with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who is considered a top confidante of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Handong International University, said Biegun's promotion is not a negative sign for the South Korean government.
"For the ultimate goal of the complete denuclearization of the peninsula, Biegun's second-in-command post at the department is not a worst-case scenario. The biggest concern is for the Trump administration to sign a bad deal with North Korea," Park said, adding that the U.S. president cares less and less about the Washington-Pyongyang nuclear dialogue because of matters related to his re-election.
On a related note, political analysts said it needs to be acknowledged that any short-term deals between Washington and Pyongyang are not in the South's national interest.
"What the South Korean government should keep in mind is to never be swayed by the North's political propaganda, and to seek a longer-term approach in handling inter-Korean affairs," Park said.
