Seohun seems to have proposed a North Korean-US contact at the Tokyo Olympics … O’Brien visits Korea immediately after the US presidential election.

Blue House National Security Officer Seo Hoon visits the White House on the 14th (local time) to meet with National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien to take a commemorative photo. [백악관 NSC 트위터]

Relating to what White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said, “denuclearization negotiations with North Korea could take place before and after the Tokyo Olympics next year,” the Blue House said. : “We spoke (with the United States) on the subject of the Korean peninsula, but it was not possible to reveal a specific time and calendar. It’s hard.”

A Blue House official met with reporters this day and explained the results of the visit to the United States by Seo-hoon, head of the Blue House Office of National Security on the 13th and 16th. However, regarding to the ‘plan for North US contact with the Tokyo Olympics next year,’ said Aide O’Brien, “Please understand that it is inappropriate to reveal a little about the specific timing and timing, and whether or not this type of conversation has occurred. ”

Earlier on the 16th (local time), during a video interview hosted by the Aspen Institute, a private organization in Washington, Aide O’Brien referred to Washington’s consultation with Mr. Seo in a video interview with Mr. Seo and said, “If the new coronavirus is mitigated next year, we will see the Olympics in Tokyo. I think I’m interested in participating in the Tokyo Olympics. ”

Robert O’Brien, National Security Advisor to the United States White House. [AP=연합뉴스]

“There will be a season when each side can come together to negotiate before and after the Olympics or during the Olympics, bring prosperity and economic development to the North Korean people (in negotiations), and discuss measures for the disarmament and denuclearization of North Korea. . There will be, ”he explained.

Aide O’Brien’s plan for the Tokyo Olympics contact grew out of the process of explaining Washington’s consultation with Chief SEO on the 14th (local time). The intention was for the ROK and the US to discuss this together, but the Blue House did not deny it. Adviser O’Brien added: “This is not an easy problem and we will work hard.”

The possibility that Seo first proposed such an idea to the American side cannot be ruled out. In this regard, the national diplomatic director, Kim Joon-hyung, interpreted: “Considering that the PyeongChang Olympic Games were the starting point of the dialogue (of the Trump administration) between North Korea and the United States, it is natural that the government tries to use the upcoming Olympics as an opportunity for dialogue. ”

The Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled to take place this year, but were postponed for a year due to the new crown crisis. The Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee have tentatively confirmed July 23 next year as the opening date, regardless of the crown crisis.

The fact that next July was seen as the time to resume the dialogue between the United States and North Korea can be interpreted as taking into account realistic conditions such as the political calendar on the American side. Before the presidential elections, US foreign policy focuses on anti-China routes and Middle East politics. Policy towards North Korea is no longer a line of management of the situation that prevents North Korea from provoking.

There is also an issue in Korea that you must take into account the possibility of regime change by the United States. If the next US government is the ‘second Trump’, there will be no major policy changes on the Korean peninsula, but when Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden is elected, policy towards North Korea is inevitable.

The Cheong Wa Dae made a proposal to try when President Trump was re-elected on the occasion of Seo’s visit to the United States, and it may be a bit embarrassing if the White House reveals it immediately. This is because the results of the US presidential election are uncertain and may seem like a gamble on Trump’s re-election. It is interpreted that the background of the Blue House keeping the ‘low key’ avoiding specific mentions in the briefing of the day is also here.

The Blue House also said on the same day, “At the request of Mr. Seo, Attendant O’Brien announced that he would visit Korea in November. I wonder if it will be after the presidential elections ”. If President Trump is reelected, it could have the effect of putting Korean peninsula policy as a priority in Trump’s second term with the visit of senior US officials immediately after the presidential election.

However, since Aide O’Brien’s visit to Korea is scheduled after the presidential election, if President Trump does not win re-election, there is a chance that his visit to Korea will pass.

Reporter Lee Yoo-jung [email protected]