By Clint Richards
As joint US-ROK military drills close, now is the time to gauge Pyongyang’s appetite for dialogue.
North Korea, isolated from even its traditional allies like China for most of this year, appears to be making another periodic or cyclical turn toward opening up to its neighbors, as more signs of economic problems and food shortages emerge. Importantly, its neighbors and other interested regional powers are showing an interest in facilitating such an opening. Whether the nascent overtures will turn into something more substantial is a matter of speculation at this point, but it is worth looking at what has happened so far in order to measure those prospects.
Last Friday a North Korean official made furtive statements to a South Korean politician that Seoul has taken to mean Pyongyang is interested renewed dialogue. The North Korean official said Seoul should implement their past agreements, and remember that South Korea had said it “would discuss any issues arising between the two Koreas.” Another South Korean official said Pyongyang is interested in the removal of economic sanctions, and that “it [North Korea] will respond in some form once the ongoing joint exercises come to an end.”
Concerning those ongoing joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian, the Combined Forces Command (CFC) said it had completed its drills ahead of schedule this year. Sources who spoke with Yonhap News said the early finish may have been intended to reduce tension with North Korea that had flared before the drills started, just as Seoul had proposed high-level talks. While the lack of an official reason for the early finish leaves its relation to North Korea ambiguous, it allows the North to infer what it likes, and perhaps use it as domestic justification for later cross-border talks.
Read the full story at The Diplomat