Following the Chinese king, Vegan also went to Seoul … North Korea ‘last visit to Korea’ message

US Under Secretary of State Stephen Biegan and North Korea’s Special Representative for Policy are speaking at a series of meetings with the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters, Lee Do-hoon, following a meeting with First Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Se-young at the Seoul Foreign Ministry office on the morning of July this year. [뉴스1]

On the 24th it was confirmed that the Republic of Korea and the US are coordinating the visit to South Korea of ​​Under Secretary of State Stephen Vegan and the special representative to North Korea early next month. As for the calendar, we talk about the second week of December.

The government is scheduled to visit Korea from the 25th to the 27th by Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister. If Minister Vegan’s visit to Korea is confirmed, high-level diplomatic missions from the United States and China will visit Seoul every two weeks. It seems that the diplomatic clock of the powerful powers to fill the power vacuum on the Korean peninsula during the transition of the American regime is busy.

A diplomatic source said the purpose of Minister Vegan’s visit was “to manage the situation to avoid North Korean provocations during the transition of the US regime.” In the course of Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Korea, if he publicly reveals his opposition to the upgrade of the THAAD (High Altitude Missile Defense) system and Korea’s participation in the anti-China alliance, there is the possibility to reveal a public containment message. This is because there is a high possibility that this visit will be the last vegan visit during President Trump’s term (until January 20 of next year).

It is unclear whether the Biden administration will succeed the vegan team’s North Korea policy, but the next administration is expected to announce its position that North Korean nuclear negotiations should continue. Vice-Gun visited Seoul in July to discuss North Korea’s resumption of nuclear negotiations with Lee Do-hoon, head of the Korean Peninsula peace negotiations headquarters, and met in Washington in September and November.

It is also of interest that Vice Minister Vegan leaves a final message to the North Korean counterpart, Choi Sun-hee, the Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea. North Korea will hold the 8th Congress of the Labor Party next January.

During his visit to Korea in July, Vegan sent a high-level warning message saying, “I am not receiving orders from Choi Sun-hee or Bolton.”

Lee Do-hoon, head of the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters (right), and Stephen Biegan, United States Assistant Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea Policy, are holding a conference of press after meeting at the Seoul Foreign Ministry Office on the morning of the 8th. [사진공동취재단]

Until now, under the Trump administration, Vice Minister Vegan has been hailed as the “best student in the North Korean negotiations.” Since he was appointed Special Representative to North Korea in August 2018, he has overseen the Trump administration’s policy in North Korea.

His “heavy attack mode” was also symbolized by a thick pile of iron, including a map of the Korean peninsula carried by the Vegan Minister during the Special Representative’s early days in North Korea. Vice Minister Vegan was also seen praying at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi just prior to the 2nd North American Talks in Hanoi (February 27-28, 2019).

In the US, Veegan faced criticism for deliberately delaying the Korean unification agenda through a task force in South Korea on part of his passport while being attacked by strong hawks, represented by the former national security adviser. of the White House, John Bolton.

Like North Korea’s previous special representatives, Vegan is also the negotiating representative for the unlucky ones. This is because there is a high possibility that the term will end without proper negotiations with the injury of his counterpart Sunhee Choi. Vice Minister Vegan sat down with Choi Sang-sang in January 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden, in secret negotiations between North America and South America, and it was difficult to even see his face except for contact with an entourage during a surprise meeting. in Panmunjom in June last year.

The second summit, which the North had carried out by reducing the level of representatives for negotiations with the United States, ultimately failed and only a frustrating phase continued. The Vegan Vice Minister expressed his frustration at the North’s attitude on several occasions, both officially and informally.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said: “There is no timetable that can be confirmed” regarding the Veegan Minister’s visit to Korea.

Reporters Yoo-jung Lee and Da-young Kim