When President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in discuss North Korea’s nuclear programme on Friday, “complete denuclearisation” will still be both countries’ objective. But after four years of belligerent tweets, presidential “love letters”, and summits between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to produce anything but photo opportunities, Biden administration officials are hoping a new approach will bear more fruit.
“Our goal remains the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, with a clear understanding that the efforts of the past four administrations have not achieved this objective,” a senior administration official said late on Wednesday.
The official, who spoke to reporters during a briefing meant to preview Mr Moon’s upcoming bilateral meeting with Mr Biden, said the new administration’s approach to the North Korea problem will be a break from the past, informed by a recently completed policy review that involved consultation with outside experts and officials from prior administrations.
“Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will it rely on strategic patience,” the official said, but instead “calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to – and will – explore diplomacy with the DPRK to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies, and our deployed forces”.
The official cautioned that it was “unlikely” that either of the leaders would detail their diplomatic strategy with respect to Pyongyang in public, and stressed that the process going forward “is likely to be challenging”. He added that Mr Moon and Mr Biden would be discussing the new approach “extensively” when they meet on Friday.
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Mr Moon’s visit to the White House, the official said, will serve to “highlight the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea,” and the fact that the meeting between the two leaders will be just the second such meeting Mr Biden has held since assuming the presidency “speaks to our focus and the importance of our relationship with [South Korea]”.
Much of Friday’s planned programme will consist of discussions focusing on how both countries can further strengthen their alliance and expand the extent of their cooperation.
“We’re looking to advance and deepen, I would say, a broad-based agenda across many arenas,” including “our values, regional security, technology, health, North Korea, and many other issues,” the official said. He added that Mr Biden would “reaffirm” America’s “ironclad commitment to South Korea’s security”.
“The US-ROK alliance is the linchpin of peace, security and prosperity for Northeast Asia, and a free and open Indo-Pacific and across the world,” he said.
Since taking office, Mr Biden has sought to shore up a relationship with South Korea that was often strained under his predecessor. During Mr Trump’s four years in office, he frequently complained about the cost of the US troop presence on the peninsula, and more than once threatened to withdraw troops from posts they have held since the 1953 armistice agreement which ended open warfare between the North and South. He also ordered the cancelation of annual joint military exercises with the South, citing both their cost and Mr Kim’s opposition to them.
In a statement released last month, Mr Trump took credit for preventing conflict on the peninsula and lashed out at Mr Moon, who he called “weak as a leader and as a negotiator, except when it came to the continued, long term military ripoff of the USA”.
While the Biden administration is ditching Mr Trump’s personal diplomacy and pursuit of a “grand bargain” with Pyongyang, one aspect of his tumultuous relationship with Mr Kim will have at least some staying power, namely the joint statement both leaders signed at the end of their 2018 summit in Singapore.
“We intend to build on the Singapore agreement, but also other agreements made by previous administrations,” the official said.
