Wi Sung-lac: "We will support the resumption of North Korea–U.S. dialogue and make sure South Korea is not bypassed"

[Financial News] Wi Sung-lac, Director of the Office of National Security, said on the 28th that if North Korea–United States dialogue resumes in the future, "one of the points we will pay attention to is making sure our security posture is not loosened and that South Korea is not bypassed."
As U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a willingness to engage with North Korea while referring to his relationship with Kim Jong Un, the South Korean government plans to support the resumption of North Korea–United States dialogue while coordinating with Washington so that the establishment of a Korean Peninsula Peace Regime and substantive progress on North Korea's nuclear weapons issue can move forward together.
At the meeting on foreign affairs and security issues, Wi said, "As for us, we will support trust-building and the resumption of dialogue between North Korea and the United States so that President Trump's efforts can lead to the resumption of North Korea–United States dialogue, as a party to peace on the Korean Peninsula and as a pacemaker."
He added, "At the same time, we want to take a multidimensional approach so that we are properly prepared for the points we need to watch in this process." He explained, "One of those points is to work with the U.S. side so that any future resumption of North Korea–United States dialogue leads to the establishment of a Korean Peninsula Peace Regime and substantive progress on the North Korea nuclear issue."
Wi stressed, "At the same time, one of the points we need to watch is making sure our security posture is not loosened and that South Korea is not bypassed." This means Seoul will support direct talks between North Korea and the United States, but remain alert to any situation in which South Korea is excluded from the negotiations or its security posture is weakened.
Trump recently met with reporters and again referred to his relationship with Kim Jong Un, while also reposting additional photos from past North Korea–U.S. summits. Wi said Trump has recently continued to express his willingness to engage with North Korea, while scaling back South Korea–United States joint exercises and outdoor maneuver training.
Wi said, "To carry out these tasks smoothly, policy coordination and communication between South Korea and the United States are more important than ever." He added, "There are many issues on the agenda between the two countries right now, including investment, Coupang, security cooperation, intelligence cooperation and the transfer of wartime operational control. The government is making every effort to coordinate these issues well and strengthen the South Korea–United States cooperation framework." He also noted that the government has continued communication with the U.S. side at various levels, including a foreign ministers' call on the 24th.
The high-level foreign affairs and security channel between Korea and China has also been reactivated after about five years. Wi said he spent nearly two hours in talks and lunch with Wang Yi, head of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission, on the 20th. He said this meant that "the dialogue channel between the South Korean national security chief and the head of the Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission, which had been suspended since December 2021, has reopened after about five years."
The two sides agreed to operate the channel regularly and also discuss Wi's visit to China. They will also begin preparing follow-up projects for summit-level exchanges on the occasion of President Lee's attendance at the Shenzhen Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.
On the Korean Peninsula issue, Wi said he explained to the Chinese side President Lee's peace coexistence policy, which was presented in his Liberation Day congratulatory address, and "described our position on denuclearization and the establishment of peace in detail." Wang reportedly said that China's policy on the Korean Peninsula has maintained continuity and stability, and expressed its intention to continue playing a constructive role for peace and stability on the peninsula.
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