Pompeo underlines China's role behind North Korea's nuclear program

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens to Ahn Ho-young, former South Korean ambassador to Washington, in a recorded video during the KOR-ASIA Forum 2022 at the Shilla Seoul, a hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho

Former US secretary of state open to Seoul's development of nuclear arsenal

By Jung Min-ho

The Chinese government under President Xi Jinping deserves to be blamed for "permitting" North Korea to develop nuclear weapons in the first place and undermining international efforts to resolve the issue with sanctions, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.

Pompeo, who served in the post between April 2018 and January 2021, visited Pyongyang at least four times when the Trump administration was seeking to find a diplomatic solution to the regime's nuclear weapons program.

In an online debate at the KOR-ASIA Forum 2022, hosted by Hankook Ilbo in collaboration with its sister newspaper, The Korea Times, Pompeo said he thinks the North has been able to build its nuclear and missile system mainly because China "permitted it to be there" and its continued support must stop ― or be stopped by a joint international effort.

"When we were negotiating with Chairman Kim, he would always go meet Xi Jinping both before and after our meetings," Pompeo said in a recorded discussion with Ahn Ho-young, former South Korean ambassador to Washington, during the event under the theme, "Korea in the era of U.S.-China strategic competition." "We often talk about China and North Korea as separate problem sets. But, in fact, my experience teaches, I think, that they are deeply connected."

He said he still believes Pyongyang could change course on the issue, but only if Beijing gets serious about participating in international sanctions on its nuclear threats.

"They (China) continue to provide resources and tools. They don't enforce the sanctions on energy, traveling in and out of (North) Korea. That creates a real risk in the region," he said. "The Biden administration, along with the South Korean government, needs to make clear to the Chinese Communist Party that (its) continued work is unacceptable and begin to impose a real cost on the Chinese Communist Party to get them to bring Chairman Kim to heel."

North Korea has conducted weapons tests at an unprecedented pace this year, firing dozens of ballistic missiles. Intelligence reports show that the North is now ready for its first nuclear weapons test since 2017. Yet China, along with Russia, has used its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to thwart any attempts for additional sanctions on it.

As a result of the growing security threats and the faltering international unity against them, an increasing number of politicians and scholars say South Korea also needs to develop its own nuclear arsenal. Pompeo said he is open to that possibility.

"But (if they make that decision), I hope that they do so in the context of a sound American partnership that they can come to trust and rely on," he said.

His answer to the question once unthinkable by most U.S. politicians suggests a shift in attitude at least among members of the Republican Party, which in recent years has focused on addressing domestic issues that directly matter to voters.

Lee Kwan-sup, senior presidential secretary for policy and planning, reads the message on behalf of President Yoon Suk-yeol during the KOR-ASIA Forum 2022 at the Shilla Seoul, a hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki

Pompeo said there will be little change in U.S. foreign policy after the midterm elections through which the Republican Party took back control of the House, given that the White House is in charge of it and expected to stay on course. But he believes the U.S.-China rivalry will continue to intensify.

"It is my firm belief that the Chinese Communist Party has been at war with the West for 40 years. This is not a confrontation that the United States is bringing. This is a confrontation that Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (are bringing)," Pompeo said.

He called the Chinese government "the greatest threat" to the rule-based international order, urging South Korea and all the other free democratic nations to join the endeavor to maintain that order and saying that China is trying to create its own China-centered world.

This message echoes the view of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who vowed to protect three universal values ― freedom, human rights and rule of law ― with other partner countries via his congratulatory message for the forum. Lee Kwan-sup, his senior secretary for policy and planning, read the message on behalf of Yoon, who was unable to attend the event because of diplomatic affairs.

From left, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, Seung Myung-ho, second from right, chairman of The Korea Times and the Hankook Ilbo, and Rep. Chung Jin-suk, interim leader of the ruling People Power Party, pose during the KOR-ASIA Forum 2022 at the Shilla Seoul, a hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki

After the midterm elections and the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, in which Xi secured a historic and controversial third term as its leader, the world today is at a critical point, said National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

"Our choices are more important than ever before," he said. "If the executive branch is in a position where it should focus more on strengthening alliances, the legislative branch needs to fill the diplomatic void … We should find our optimal path and the Assembly has a heavy responsibility of being a diplomatic bridge," he said.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said good leadership is essential to strike the right diplomatic balance.

"Instead of being cornered to take sides (between the two great powers), we should be able to create a favorable environment where we don't have to be swayed," he said. "That's the way we can prosper … Perhaps we can turn this crisis into an opportunity."