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Victor Cha, a senior adviser and the inaugural holder of the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), speaks remotely, Thursday, during an online forum, titled "Free and Unified Korea: Options for the New U.S. Administration," hosted by the Global Peace Foundation at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul hotel. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation

By Kang Seung-woo

Former U.S. government officials who dealt with the North Korean nuclear issue for previous presidents have advised the new Biden administration to take advantage of China, the North's key ally and economic patron, in resolving the decades-long problem.

U.S. President Joe Biden took office last month and his national security team is reviewing its policy toward Pyongyang, which will likely result in the undoing of many of the Donald Trump administration's foreign policies.

"China obviously plays an important role in any negotiation, but given the state of U.S.-China relations, I think we have to approach that particular aspect with a great deal of sobriety, and so I think that means working tactically with China. But strategically our interest may diverge too much to think that there could be some sort of grand bargain over North Korea," Victor Cha, a senior adviser and the inaugural holder of the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said during an online forum, titled "Free and Unified Korea: Options for the New U.S. Administration," hosted by the Global Peace Foundation, Thursday.

Cha served as deputy head of the U.S. delegation to six-party denuclearization talks in 2007 under the George W. Bush administration.

"So I think there the principle is to work tactically with China but not have our policy dependent on China's cooperation to be successful," he added.

Robert Gallucci, who was the chief U.S. negotiator during the North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994, expressed a similar view.

"I think, in terms of what we should do, I'm pretty sure I understood Victor's point about the Chinese doing things tactical rather than attempting the strategic here, so I think I'm consistent with it," Gallucci said.

"I would want from the Chinese to sign them up to encourage the North to continue restraint ― I guess the best I put it ― not to look for opportunities to enhance their bargaining position by some sort of provocation that will just set us back six months or more."

Gallucci also warned against prejudging the North Korean regime, citing it as a "fundamental error."

"The new realism in Washington which I have no sympathy for is saying that 'look, North Korea is never going to give up its nuclear weapons, so let's just get past that and see what we can get' and that strikes me as a fundamental error at least because we actually don't know about what North Korea is thinking and shouldn't pretend we do," he said.

Some experts claim that the Biden administration needs to shift toward the goal of arms control in its negotiations with the North as an interim step before complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North.

"Even though denuclearization may not come soon, there still needs to be efforts to manage the threat from North Korea," Cha said, adding this could mean freezing their capabilities, capping them or trying to codify agreements not to test missiles or things of that nature.

"There's a threat management component that has to be a part of any negotiation," he added.

However, Kim Hong-kyun, another participant and former special representative for the Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, opposed the idea, claiming it will end up allowing the North to buy time for the development of its nuclear weapons program.

"Korea and the U.S. have to review and come up with a common strategy on the denuclearization of North Korea as early as possible. A comprehensive agreement needs to be pursued even if its implementation will be gradual," Kim said.

"An interim agreement, a so-called small deal, without clear definition on a final goal or timeline, will be exploited by the North to recognize it as a de facto nuclear weapons state."

Meanwhile, Moon Hyun-jin, founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, said the time is ripe for fresh strategic thinking that a unified Korea aligned with fundamental freedoms and human rights should become the clearly stated and actively pursued policy of the U.S., South Korea, their allies and the United Nations.

"This would provide a clear angle for Korea policy and a framework for all negotiations," he said.