[Global NK Interview] South Korea's North Korea Policy After the ROK-U.S.-Japan Camp David Summit

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlXBGpM9-Ao&si=iFRe3ASIzR0Mdxya

Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho explains the vision of a "free and peaceful unified Korean Peninsula" announced at the ROK-U.S.-Japan Camp David Summit in August and the Ministry of Unification's initiatives to achieve it. Minister Kim emphasizes that the government will strive to create an environment for unification based on liberal democratic values by making efforts to ensure North Korea recognizes that nuclear development is not beneficial to itself, while consistently communicating its stance of being always open to dialogue without preconditions. He also explains that the ministry is working to raise international awareness and consensus on guaranteeing the freedom and human rights of North Korean residents, and exploring cooperation with domestic and international experts and relevant organizations. Furthermore, he states that the Ministry of Unification will focus on tasks such as the complete denuclearization of North Korea, human rights improvement, unification diplomacy, and support for North Korean defectors in its future North Korea policy.

■ Kim Yung-ho, 43rd Minister of Unification.

■ Son Yeol, President of EAI, Professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies.

■ Managed and Edited by: Park Ji-soo, EAI Research Fellow

    Inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 208) | jspark@eai.or.kr

Video Transcript

Welcome to Global North Korea. My name is Son Yeol. I am the President of the East Asia Institute, which runs this program. It is a distinct honor for me to host this conversation with the Minister of Unification, Kim Yung-ho. Thank you, Minister, for being here. Thank you for inviting me to explain the ROK government's North Korea policies. I appreciate the great effort by the East Asia Institute in its Global North Korea program. I hope the East Asia Institute continues to make efforts to promote North Korean issues and North Korean human rights programs. Thank you very much. As you know, Minister Kim is also Professor Kim. He is a leading expert in international relations in Korea before joining the government 100 days ago. So it's going to be a very rich and thoughtful conversation. Let me begin with the Camp David Summit. In that Summit, three leaders from Korea, Japan, and the United States adopted three documents, namely, the Spirit of Camp David, the Camp David Principles, and the Commitment to Consult. These documents address: number one, reaffirmation of the goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea; condemnation of North Korea's conventional military actions such as missile tests; and joint responses to illicit cyber activities; and resumption of dialogue without preconditions; and finally, efforts to promote human rights within North Korea. With this, would you tell us your assessment of these documents, particularly pertaining to the Ministry of Unification?

Before we discuss the main content of the agreement at Camp David, I want to emphasize one of the main characteristics of the Yoon Suk-yeol government's foreign policy approach: it is a value-based approach. This approach is also reflected in its principled North Korea policies. The Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan share common values such as freedom, democracy, and human rights. These shared values laid the foundation for the agreement at Camp David to deter the North Korean nuclear and missile threat. As you mentioned, this document will contribute to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as in the East Asian region. North Korea's nuclear and missile threat continues to increase with each missile provocation and the preparations for a seventh nuclear test at Punggye-ri. So the three leaders decided to strengthen deterrence measures against the North Korean threat. In addition to strengthening deterrence measures, the three countries decided to share North Korea's missile information on a real-time basis. The three countries decided to conduct trilateral naval exercises to cope with North Korea's submarine operations. With these strengthened deterrence measures, the three leaders offered North Korea to come to the nuclear negotiation table without preconditions. Another important agenda at Camp David was the North Korean human rights issue. Three leaders agreed to have high-level consultations to promote this issue. The leaders also confirmed their commitment to find immediate solutions for abductees, detainees, and prisoners of war from the Korean War. When I was appointed Minister of Unification, I decided to establish a special task force to deal with this issue, so we are making great efforts to solve this issue.

After the Camp David agreement was reached, and also regarding the unification issue, three leaders agreed to pursue a new vision for a free and peaceful unified Korea. In the past, the United States and ROK leaders adopted a declaration that the future Korean unification must be based on liberal democracy and a market economy. At this Camp David Summit meeting, Japan joined the United States in supporting a new vision for a free and peaceful unified Korea. With the adoption of this new vision, the unification diplomacy of the Ministry will gain momentum. So the Unification Ministry will continue to achieve the goal of peaceful unification in line with the Camp David agreement.

Absolutely. You start from the Yoon government's foreign policy, that you characterize as value-based foreign policy. And in that regard, you come down to North Korean issues, particularly deterring North Korean attempts to develop weapons, and you mentioned human rights issues, which is increasingly important as the government emphasizes. And third, you mentioned the unification vision, which has been agreed to by the United States and Japan, and unification diplomacy will be leveraged in that way. So that is a very good start.

My second question is about the Audacious Initiative. The recent Camp David Summit focused intensively on measures to deter North Korea's nuclear threat and dissuade nuclear development through sanctions and pressure, which is among the Yoon government's 3D North Korea policy. Could you explain the continuity and change between the Audacious Initiative that came out last year and this Camp David that came out in August?

President Yoon proposed the Audacious Initiative in his famous National Liberation Day speech in August 2022. This initiative aims to improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihood in stages if North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons program and returns to the nuclear negotiation table. However, North Korea does not want to give up its nuclear programs. Under these circumstances, it is very important to strengthen combined deterrence measures against North Korea's nuclear and missile threat. In addition to deterrence, the three countries need to work together to dissuade North Korea from developing its nuclear program. For North Korea to develop its nuclear program, they need funding and money. North Korea tries to get illegal foreign currency through cyber hacking. So the three countries need to create a strategic environment in which North Korea gives up its nuclear program and returns to dialogue by strengthening sanctions against North Korea. So this Audacious Initiative takes a holistic approach to achieving North Korea's denuclearization. Coordinated trilateral cooperation is essential in the process of implementing this Audacious Initiative based on 3D strategies. That is why the three leaders at Camp David agreed to support President Yoon's initiative.

In that regard, we look more closely at North Korea. North Korea currently pursues a frontal breakthrough strategy and refuses to engage in dialogue, focusing on increasing nuclear capabilities, constitutionalizing its policy of building nuclear forces, continuing its anti-American front as demonstrated by the recent Russia-North Korea Summit and support for Hamas, and aiming to make its status as a nuclear-armed state irreversible. So, given this situation, which is really challenging for the Audacious Initiative, what efforts do you think are needed from South Korea and the international community to achieve this very difficult task of denuclearization?

First of all, it is crucial to make North Korea understand that its nuclear development will not yield anything beneficial to North Korea. It is important to make it clear that the international community cannot recognize North Korea as a nuclear state. North Korea is trying to take advantage of the unstable international environment. As you just mentioned, Kim Jong-un held a summit with Putin, and North Korea has provided artillery shells to Russia and, in return, is trying to get technologies for military surveillance satellites. So the international community needs to work together to prevent Russian-North Korean military cooperation from further destabilizing the Korean Peninsula. The UN Security Council and the international community imposed sanctions against North Korea to dissuade it from developing nuclear and missile programs. However, China and Russia are reluctant to implement sanctions against North Korea, and they are also very reluctant to impose new sanctions against North Korea when North Korea violates UN sanctions. So we need to find a way to make China and Russia play a more responsible and constructive role in implementing UN Security Council resolutions.

As you mentioned before, the North Korean human rights issue and humanitarian conditions are becoming an increasingly important issue. And you told us that the basic principles and philosophy of this government's foreign policy is value-based. So, in that regard, the South Korean government puts special attention on humanitarian and human rights issues, and that is also addressed in the Camp David principles. So, how is the Ministry of Unification advancing cooperation with the international community to improve North Korean humanitarian conditions?

start my second question is uh is about audacious uh initiative the recent uh Cemp David Summit focused intensively on the measures to deter North Korean nuclear threat and then uh dissuade uh nuclear development through sanctions and pressure which is among the Y government's 3D uh North Korean uh policy could you uh explain continuity and change between audacious initiative that came out last year and this uh Camp DAV that uh that came out in August president proposed the audacious initiative in his famous uh National

Liberation Day speech in August 2022 uh this initiative will improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihood in stages if North Korea give up its nuclear weapons program and returns to the nuclear negotiation table however North Korea does not want to give up each nuclear programs under these circumstances it is very important uh to strengthen a combined deterrence measures against North Korea's nuclear and missile threat in addition to deterrence uh three country needed to work together to dissuade

North Korea uh from developing its nuclear program for North Korea uh to develop its nuclear program they need uh uh funding and money North Korea uh try to get uh illegal foreign uh currency cyber hacking uh so uh three countries need to create a strategic environment in which North Korea give up each nuclear program and return to dialogue by uh strengthening uh sanctions against uh uh the North Korea so uh this audacious initiative take a holistic approach of ofch achieving North Korea's denuclearization coordinated

trilateral cooperation is essential in the process of implementing this audacious uh initiative based on 3D strategies it's why three leaders at Camp David agreed to support president yun's 's initiative uh so in that uh regard uh we uh look more closely uh at North Korea North Korea uh currently pursues uh frontal breakthrough strategy um and refuse to engage a dialogue U focus on you know increasing nuclear capabilities um constitutionalize uh nuclear for Force building policy you know continue anti-

The government's approach to addressing human rights issues in North Korea is based on universal human values. A free and peaceful unified Korea cannot be realized if freedom and human rights are not guaranteed for North Koreans. We needed to gain a thorough understanding of the deteriorating human rights conditions in North Korea. The Yoon Suk-yeol government published the Human Rights Report on North Korea in 2023. This is the first governmental-level report. The report will be published on an annual basis to disseminate information on human rights conditions in North Korea.

The Ministry of Unification conducts interviews with all North Korean defectors when they enter the resettlement center called Hana Center. The government will continue to disseminate this information to gain domestic and international consensus on the seriousness of this issue. Recently, we have invited members of diplomatic missions in Seoul to explain the government's direction for North Korean human rights and how we will strengthen cooperation with the international community. We plan to hold such meetings on a regular basis to improve awareness of North Korean human rights situations. Also, the ROK government is working closely with the United Nations. The ROK government this year co-sponsored the UN resolutions on North Korean human rights, and the government is supporting and working together with domestic and international human rights NGOs. The Ministry of Unification holds the Korea Global Forum to discuss and promote North Korean human rights with distinguished scholars and activists around the world. The Yoon Suk-yeol government has initiated the establishment of the National Center for North Korean Human Rights. The budget for this center has been secured with the help of the National Assembly. The center will play an important role in promoting North Korean human rights issues. Finally, I want to state that the government is pursuing humanitarian assistance to North Korea regardless of political and military situations. So, humanitarian assistance to North Korea cannot be separated from promoting North Korean human rights situations.

Thank you very much. Now, let's turn to the unification issue. You mentioned a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and peaceful. Could you tell us a bit more about that vision, and are you taking steps to realize those visions?

Yes, the vision for a free and peaceful unified Korea secured support from the United States and Japan at the historic Camp David Summit, as you mentioned. We will promote this vision on occasions of bilateral and multilateral summits in the future to gain support from the international community. The Ministry of Unification will do the same through international dialogues and meetings with diplomatic missions in Seoul. As more countries throughout the world support our new vision for a free unified Korea, a more favorable environment will be created for peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom, democracy, and human rights. So the Ministry of Unification will continue to make great efforts to achieve the goal of peaceful unification by promoting a new vision for unification.

We are almost closing this dialogue. I understand that last week was your 100th day in office. Can you reflect on those 100 days and also your future plans as minister? Maybe you can give us some specific areas you really want to move forward.

Yes, after my appointment as Minister of Unification, organizational changes have been made to focus on four main tasks. Number one, we continue to make great efforts to achieve the goal of complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear programs. So the Yoon Suk-yeol government proposed the Audacious Initiative to North Korea. We urge North Korea to return to the nuclear negotiation table. Second, we will come up with diverse measures to promote North Korean human rights issues. The Ministry of Unification will announce the Human Rights Roadmap for North Korea at the end of this year. With this roadmap, the ministry will work together with domestic and international human rights NGOs.

Third, we will make diplomatic efforts to secure support for a new vision for a free and peaceful unified Korea. The Ministry will make systematic preparations to achieve this vision on the governmental level. Finally, we will help North Korean defectors settle down in South Korea. In December this year, the Ministry will hold a job fair for North Korean defectors for the first time. This job fair will help North Koreans find a way to secure a decent job. The Ministry of Unification will be dedicated to realizing the mandate of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which is peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom and democracy and human rights. I ask for your interest in and support for the policies and activities of the Ministry of Unification.

Thank you for the great conversation. I'm sure that the audience around the world really enjoyed it, and also thank you for your service to the nation. And once again, it is an honor and privilege to have you here at Global North Korea. And on behalf of EAI, we issue a great success. Thank you very much.

promoting North Kore human uh situations uh thank you very much U now uh let's turn to uh unification issue you uh mentioned uh unified Korean Peninsula that is free and peace could you tell us a bit more about that vision and um are you taking steps uh to realize uh those Visions yes a vision for a free and peaceful unified Korea uh secur support from United States and Japan at the historic Camp David Summit as you mentioned uh we will promote this Vision on occasions of bilateral and multilateral Summit in the future to

gain support from International Community uh Ministry of unification will do the same through International dialogues and meetings with diplomatic missions in uh Soul as more countries throughout the world support our new vision uh for free unified Korea a more favorable environment will be created for the peaceful unification based on the principles of Freedom democracy and human uh rights so the ministry of unification will continue to make great effort uh to achieve the goal of peaceful unification by promoting a new

vision uh for unification uh we are um almost closing this dialogue uh I understand I understand that the last week um was uh your uh 100 days in office um can you Reflections on those 100 days and also your future plans as Minister uh maybe you can uh give us some uh specific areas you really want to uh move forward yes after my appointment as minister of unification organizational changes has been made to co four main task number one we continue to make great effort to achieve the goal of a complete

Thank you very much. Thank you.