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| Chief nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk, right, poses with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim, left, and Takehiro Funakoshi, before their talks in Tokyo, Tuesday. Yonhap |
US still committed to inter-Korean humanitarian projects
By Kang Seung-woo
Humanitarian assistance-based efforts by South Korea and the United States to engage North Korea appear to be falling on deaf ears as Pyongyang is opting for confrontation over dialogue to seize some kind of initiative before returning to denuclearization negotiations.
Under these circumstances, President Moon Jae-in's peace efforts, represented by his highly-hyped Korean Peninsula "peace process," are increasingly losing their footing.
On Monday, the reclusive state announced that it had successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile over the weekend, putting a damper on repeated calls from Seoul and Washington for the country to return to dialogue.
The missile launches were carried out before the top nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held a trilateral meeting in Tokyo, Tuesday, to discuss ways to resolve the stalled North Korea nuclear issue.
Currently, the Joe Biden administration is committed to supporting inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation projects, in the hope that this will lead to the Kim Jong-un regime responding by resuming dialogue.
However, the fact that the missile launches occurred even ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to Seoul, Tuesday and Wednesday, has raised the speculation that North Korea is taking a confrontational path toward the U.S.
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