President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden talked on the phone earlier this month and discussed Korean Peninsula issues. Korea Times file

By Do Je-hae

During the previous U.S. administration under Donald Trump, talks on North Korea's denuclearization revolved primarily around the U.S. and North Korea. President Moon Jae-in has also put priority on mediating U.S.-North Korea talks, but the two summits between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not lead to fundamental progress on denuclearization. The lack of results during the Trump administration on North Korea and the urgency from Seoul to quickly resume peace diplomacy have resulted in renewed attention to the type of multilateral negotiating framework that was seen during in the late 1990s, such as the four-party talks with representatives from the two Koreas, the U.S. and China. Six rounds of negotiations were held in 1997 and 1998.

The need for expanded talks has been highlighted particularly with the launch of the Biden administration. Two-way talks between North Korea and the U.S. are likely to remain sidelined under President Biden who has ordered a meticulous review of the North Korea policy of the previous administration and the rare exchanges between his predecessor and Kim.

Some experts, including former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who served from April 2019 until June 2020, have begun to stress the need for the revival of four-party negotiations that would include China, which has significant economic and political influence over North Korea. The frequent exchanges at the highest level between the leaders of the two countries in recent years show the strength of bilateral relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang for a summit with Kim in June 2019, the first visit by a Chinese leader to North Korea in 14 years.

"If the Biden administration is unable to prioritize the North Korea issue, cooperation from other concerned parties is necessary," Kim said during a recent online conference, underscoring the fact that China and North have become closer economically and politically than in the past. "Following the collapse of the Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim, China-North Korea ties have become so close that it is hard to find a precedent. The order on the Korean Peninsula has changed, and it has become difficult to exclude China."

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, recently sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the eighth congress of the Workers' Party of Korea and reiterated his commitment to the settlement of Korean Peninsula issues and regional peace. Korea Times file

The four-party talks including China have also been supported by experts in the U.S., including Joseph Yun, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, based on expectations for China's role in preventing provocations through dialogue or partial economic aid.