[Smart Q&A: Frank Jannuzi] Trust Diplomacy and the International Community: North Korea-U.S. Relations and South Korea's North Korea Strategy

YouTube Link: video.eai.or.kr/141215_sqa.flv

Frank Jannuzi currently serves as the President of the Mansfield Foundation. From 1997 to 2012, he was the Director of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, advising then-Senators Joseph Biden and John Kerry on security, politics, economics, and human rights in East Asia.

Overview

How can the tightly shut door of North Korea be opened? To find clues to this question, EAI interviewed Frank Jannuzi, President of the Mansfield Foundation in the United States (hereafter referred to as President Jannuzi). Expressing concern over the stalemate in North Korea-U.S. relations, President Jannuzi notes that South Korea's trust diplomacy is providing important clues for the international community's efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. While acknowledging that denuclearization of North Korea is a realistically very challenging task, President Jannuzi argues that the international community, including the United States, must continuously strive to create an environment for dialogue and negotiation. Despite past efforts such as the Six-Party Talks and the February 29th agreement between North Korea and the U.S., North Korea has continued to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, rendering international efforts futile. However, he explains that South Korea's trust diplomacy can create an environment for the U.S., which has been frustrated by North Korea, to pursue a regional engagement strategy similar to Europe's Helsinki Process. Jannuzi points out, however, that inter-Korean relations remain in the early stages of trust-building and stresses the importance for both sides not to inflict harm on each other. Finally, he urges North and South Korea, as well as the younger generations of neighboring countries, to continue fostering a spirit of reconciliation so that they can live together on the Korean Peninsula based on cooperation and common interests.

“The reason we have to deal with North Korea is not because we trust them, but because we don't. Because we don't trust their intentions, we must start with the small steps President Park mentioned. We must start with promises that can be kept and feasible cooperation, and then evaluate the results.”

“Reconciliation begins with not causing further harm to the other party. Not causing harm is the first step, deepening mutual understanding is the second, and repenting for past wrongdoings and building a future together is the third. Unfortunately, we are still at the first step.”

U.S. Policy Toward North Korea and Denuclearization

• For North Korea, nuclear weapons are a critical issue directly linked to regime survival, and overcoming this requires far greater effort than current approaches like the suspended Six-Party Talks or sanctions.

• U.S. policy toward North Korea will, in principle, aim for the complete denuclearization of North Korea. However, given instances like North Korea's support for Syria's nuclear facilities, it is expected that the U.S. will focus more on preventing nuclear proliferation in the short term.

• The Six-Party Talks were effective in that they had "external guarantors" that lent weight to the outcomes of negotiations, but the U.S. currently does not expect North Korea to come to the negotiating table under the right circumstances.

• The U.S. government felt a great sense of betrayal, particularly regarding the collapse of the February 29th agreement between North Korea and the U.S. in 2012. However, U.S. diplomatic efforts toward North Korea should not cease due to such failures.

South Korea's Trust Diplomacy

• Through President Park Geun-hye's trust diplomacy, South Korea can provide some political space for the Obama administration in its efforts toward North Korean denuclearization. With the U.S. having limited room to maneuver due to other pressing issues and frustration with North Korea, South Korea is now in a position to persuade and lead neighboring countries, including the U.S., by presenting new ideas.

• Europe's Helsinki Process was an engagement process based on mutual respect across various dimensions, including security, economy, human rights, and people-to-people exchanges. South Korea's Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative aligns with this Helsinki Process and could enable the pursuit of an expanded engagement policy toward North Korea.

• The Northeast Asia Helsinki Process, proposed by the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative, is designed to create a foundation for discussing more difficult issues by first resolving smaller, less controversial issues that are easier to agree upon among regional countries. In other words, it aims not to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue itself, but to create an environment where issues like the North Korean nuclear problem can be negotiated.

• The Northeast Asia Helsinki Process has advantages as a multilateral engagement process because it can involve various countries with a strong interest in the future of Northeast Asia, beyond the parties to the Six-Party Talks, and it offers North Korea opportunities to engage in dialogue with new countries that are more favorable or neutral toward it.

• Inter-Korean relations today are at a stage where inflicting harm on the other party must be avoided. Only when this stage is solidified can mutual understanding be promoted, ultimately leading to genuine reconciliation. North and South Korea, and the surrounding countries, must recognize that it is in their respective interests to ensure that the younger generation can live on a Korean Peninsula based on cooperation and common interests, rather than hostility and division... (continued)

The East Asia Institute (EAI) conducts Smart Q&A, a video interview series with domestic and international experts, aiming to provide timely and in-depth analysis of current issues through question-and-answer sessions with specialists in relevant fields. This manuscript is based on the original interview transcript compiled by EAI Foreign Policy and Security Team interns Ho Young-jin and Mael Alan van Beek, and summarized and organized by researchers Shin Bo-ram and Yoo Jae-seung. The opinions expressed are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the position of the East Asia Institute. Please cite the source when quoting from Smart Q&A.