North Korea not responding to Biden administration’s contact efforts

Reuters reported Saturday (local time) quoting a high-ranking official in the Biden administration that it has been trying to contact North Korea since mid-February using various channels but has not heard from Pyongyang yet.

According to the report, the official said the U.S. has been making efforts to reach out to the North Korean government to prevent tensions from mounting starting in mid-February through several channels including North Korean representatives to the United Nations. But he said, “To date, we have not received any response from Pyongyang.” This is interpreted as an attempt to deliver a message that the U.S. is willing to resolve nuclear issues through talks and to prevent North Korea’s provocations in the initial stage of the administration as it is now reviewing North Korea policies. 　

“We have been notified that the U.S. has tried to contract the North,” said an insider of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The U.S. would have sent a message that it intends to resolve issues through talks, rather than making concrete suggestions such as denuclearization talks.” 　

“I believe the review will be done in a few weeks,” said Sung Kim, U.S. acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, regarding the Biden administration’s review on the North Korea policy at a press briefing on Friday.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com