If US Special Representative to North Korea, Stephen Biegun, were to go to Panmunjeom to meet with a working group delegation for renewed negotiations, who would his North Korean counterpart be? Kim Hyuk Chol, Biegun's prior negotiating counterpart on the DPRK side prior to the disaster at Hanoi, may no longer serve in that role. His major flaw, if you will, was not discerning the apparent lack of sincerity in Biegun's statements before Hanoi. Chairman Kim's embarrassment at Hanoi, ostensibly orchestrated by John Bolton's all or nothing approach, appears to have been blamed in large part on Kim Hyuk Chol. Kim Hyuk Chol was reported to have been summarily executed thereafter but there were subsequent reports that he was in custody being interrogated about his role in the debacle, which isn't a good sign either. Ironically, after being led down the primrose path by Mr. Biegun, Ambassador Kim, might be the best representative North Korea could field at this point. He would have a healthy dose of skepticism for anything Mr. Biegun might say, as he is making those "flexibility" sounds again.
But here are some contradictory comments from Biegun , after and before, the failed summit at Hanoi, noted in a March 12, Telegraph article:
“Biegun: “Nothing can be agreed until everything can be agreed.” – a losing strategy,” tweeted Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Stimson Centre, a Washington think tank.and:
Mr Biegun, meanwhile, had indicated in an speech at Stanford University at the end of January that the US was willing to take a more stage by stage approach to the issue – a policy favoured by Pyongyang.
“We have communicated to our North Korean counterparts that we are prepared to pursue – simultaneously and in parallel – all of the commitments our two leaders made in their joint statement at Singapore last summer,” he said, referring to the two leaders’ first meeting in the city-state last June.*
*https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/12/us-will-not-accept-incremental-disarmament-insists-envoy-north/
US will not accept 'incremental' disarmament, insists envoy to North Korea
Beigun in his recent public statements has been making similarly enticing remarks to those before Hanoi. Perhaps he thinks no one notices the inconsistency. Here is a statement he made at the Atlantic Council on June 19:
Both sides understand the need for a flexible approach… We have to go beyond the formulas that for the past 25 years have failed to resolve this problem,” Biegun said. “We have made clear that the US is looking for meaningful and verifiable steps on denuclearization and we understand that in the North Korean view this is possible, but needs to proceed in context with broader discussions of security guarantees and improved overall relations.” *
*https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/door-is-wide-open-for-negotiations-with-north-korea-us-envoy-says
‘Door is Wide Open’ for Negotiations with North Korea, US Envoy Says
Sound familiar? Beigun emphasized that the working level representative on the North Korean side needed to be empowered to negotiate, in an apparent reference to the limitations of the top down approach taken by Chairman Kim. Does he not share the same problem with the fickle president?
Channel A News Top Ten news analysts in their discussion felt logical alternatives to Kim Hyuk Chol would be Choi Son Hui, First Deputy Foreign Minister and American affairs "expert," Ri Yong Ho, DPRK Foreign Minister, or perhapss some other as yet unanticipated envoy. Kim Jong Bong, an expert commmentator on North Korean affairs, floated the possibility of former Prime Minister Ri Su Yong stepping into the role to negotiate with Stephen Biegun. Here are some relevant Wikipedia entries on Ri:
In May 2016, Ri Su-yong was replaced by Ri Yong-ho as the foreign minister. The shuffle was followed by the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea,[3] which elected Ri Su-yong a full member and Vice Chairman of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea,[12][13] a full member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, and the director of the party's International Relations Department.[13] In 2017, he was elected chairman of the Diplomatic Commission of the Supreme People's Assembly.[14]
It is unlikely that Ri Yong Ho, Choe, or Ri Su Yong, or even Kim Hyuk Chol, will be fooled by Stephen Biegun's overtures again. His formulaic tactics don't seem to have changed. However, Kim Jong Un's receptivity to Trump's letters seems somewhat unexpected and naive under the circumstances. Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice...? Is he just holding out the possibility of an election campaign extravaganza summit event for President Trump? Kim is likely as disingenuous and superficial in his approach as the US representatives playing along with their game just buying time to see what happens to Trump.
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