Chung Dong-young: "Peace Plan for the Korean Peninsula Could Gain Momentum in September"—U.S.-South Korea Leaders' UN Speeches on Sept. 22 Could Be a Turning Point

[Financial News] Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young forecast that the peace agenda on the Korean Peninsula would gain significant momentum around the United Nations speeches by the South Korean and U.S. leaders on Sept. 22. He also said South Korea should pursue the unfinished initiatives from the Roh Tae-woo administration's Nordpolitik and the Kim Young-sam administration's four-party talks as it advances a peace policy for the Korean Peninsula.
Chung Dong-young made the remarks at a policy forum hosted by the Korea Institute for National Unification at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, under the theme "The Korean Peninsula in a Period of Transition: Unification or Peace?" He praised the Roh Tae-woo administration's Nordpolitik. "I believe the Roh Tae-woo administration was the most underrated of all previous administrations," he said. He added, "The July 7 Declaration, the Roh Tae-woo administration's Nordpolitik initiative in 1988, was a Copernican shift."
Until then, the goal of South Korea's diplomacy had been to isolate North Korea. That policy changed 180 degrees after the Roh Tae-woo administration issued the July 7 Declaration.
In October of that year, President Roh Tae-woo officially placed the transition to a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula on the agenda in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Chung Dong-young said. "Unfortunately, however, Nordpolitik remained unfinished," he added.
South Korea established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and China, but failed to move toward diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States or between North Korea and Japan. As a result, the initiative achieved only half of its intended success.
Chung Dong-young explained that, more than 30 years later, completing the remaining half of that success is the Lee Jae Myung administration's national responsibility, national strategic objective and policy goal.
Chung Dong-young also assessed that the obstacles to the four-party talks pursued by the Kim Young-sam administration had disappeared.
On April 16, 1996, President Kim Young-sam persuaded President Bill Clinton to propose four-party talks to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at a South Korea-U.S. summit. Six rounds of talks were subsequently held in Geneva in 1997, 1998 and 1999, but the process ultimately collapsed.
Chung Dong-young assessed that "the two obstacles that blocked the four-party talks pursued by the Kim Young-sam administration—the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea and a direct U.S.-North Korea peace treaty that excluded South Korea—have disappeared."
President Lee Jae Myung has expressed his determination on six occasions—including his March 1 Independence Movement Day address, his Aug. 15 Liberation Day speech, a message to U.S. President Donald Trump on X on Aug. 19, and an address commemorating the National Unification Advisory Council—to begin the journey of transforming the unstable armistice regime into a permanent peace regime.
Chung Dong-young said, "The fact that President Lee Jae Myung has stated this six times in official speeches clearly establishes it as a national strategic objective and policy goal." He added, "To achieve this, the government and the people must unite and devote themselves to the effort."
He assessed that President Donald Trump's expression of willingness on Aug. 16 to hold talks with North Korea through a suspension of military exercises was neither improvised nor driven solely by domestic political considerations.
Chung Dong-young also introduced Georgetown University professor Charles Kupchan's view of President Donald Trump's aspirations. Kupchan has said, "At the core of President Trump's efforts to lead U.S.-North Korea talks is a strong desire to leave a legacy."
The implication is that President Donald Trump has long harbored an aspiration to become the fifth large rock face carved into Mount Rushmore, following Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt.
In fact, in 2016, before winning his first presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump expressed his determination, saying, "If I become president, I will meet Chairman Kim Jong Un in person and dismantle the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula.
He has previously expressed his determination to dismantle the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula."
Chung Dong-young said, "President Trump has been a leader who has consistently shown interest in and determination regarding the Cold War issue on the Korean Peninsula over the past decade." He added, "We must seize this opportunity."
President Lee Jae Myung and President Donald Trump are scheduled to deliver speeches at the United Nations on Sept. 22. A U.S.-China summit is also scheduled for two days later, making the period a potential turning point. Chung Dong-young forecast, "There is a possibility that the peace agenda on the Korean Peninsula will gain prominence in September."
[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter