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North Korea Hints at Summit with Japan: A Slim Possibility or Strategic Maneuver?

Daniel Kim Views  

가능성 희박한데…북일회담 띄우는 北 왜?
A photo of Kim Yo Jong, Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party of North Korea. Yonhap News

Even though many North Korea experts see little chance, as North Korea implies the possibility of a North Korea-Japan summit, the background of it draws interest.

First, Kim Yo Jong, Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, stated in a speech on the Korean Central News Agency on the 25th, “Recently, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his desire to meet Chairman Kim Jong Un as soon as possible through another channel.” Last month, on the 15th, Deputy Director Kim also said that a North Korea-Japan summit is possible under conditions such as not raising the issue of abductees.

On this day, Deputy Director Kim emphasized, “If Japan continues to interfere with our sovereign rights and obsess over the abduction issue, which has nothing left to be solved or no way to know, the Prime Minister’s vision will be nothing more than a popularity stunt.” It was a repeated demand, not to mention the abductee issue as a prerequisite for the North Korea-Japan summit.

In response, former Ambassador to Japan, Shin Kak Soo, pointed out, “From Japan’s perspective, the North Korea-Japan summit is intended to solve the abductee issue, but North Korea says the abductee issue has already been resolved. They share different entrances to a summit from the beginning.” Lee Ki Tae, Director of the Global Strategy Research Division at the Korea Institute for National Unification, also stated in a report on this day, “Prime Minister Kishida, who is from Hiroshima, a victim of atomic bombings, strongly supports the principle of North Korean denuclearization while advocating for a world without nuclear weapons. It will be difficult to establish North Korea-Japan dialogue in a short period.”

가능성 희박한데…북일회담 띄우는 北 왜?
A photo of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. AFP Yonhap News

So why is North Korea implying the idea of a North Korea-Japan summit? First, it is analyzed as a means of internal propaganda. As the number of people watching South Korean dramas in North Korea increases, there is a majority opinion on the occurrence of disturbance within the regime. In this situation, it is interpreted that they are trying to strengthen the regime’s cohesion by sending a message that Japan is courting us.

Former Ambassador Shin saw it as they might be trying to shake the trilateral cooperation of South Korea, the United States, and Japan through the North Korea-Japan summit. Also, it could be aimed at dividing public opinion in South Korea ahead of the general elections. The diagnosis is that they are trying to stir up public opinion in South Korea by saying North Korea and Japan are in contact, but what is the South Korean government doing? In addition, there is an interpretation that they publicly demand Japan to decide and press them as the private working-level negotiations for the North Korea-Japan summit have reached a deadlock.

On the other hand, from the standpoint of Kishida, who is recording the lowest approval rating ever, there is a need for a North Korea-Japan summit. Kishida, who served as foreign minister for 4 years and 8 months during the Shinzo Abe administration, is a person whose primary skill is diplomacy. On this day, Kishida said about the possibility of a North Korea-Japan summit, “It’s a story with the other party,” and “Nothing has been decided yet.”

Daniel Kim
content@viewusglobal.com

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