South Korean President Moon Jae-in waves from the steps of his plane as he leaves for the United States at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on May 19, 2021. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
WASHINGTON – President of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Moon Jae-in, has been hoping to use his first summit with US President Joe Biden this week to press a legacy policy of engaging the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), but Washington has played down the prospect of any quick impetus on the issue.
In their meeting on Friday, Biden is set to prioritize boosting cooperation with Seoul on regional security more broadly, the coronavirus pandemic and advancing policy on climate change.
ROK officials were heartened by Biden's DPRK policy review, which called for a focus on practical diplomatic steps to reduce tensions while maintaining a final goal of persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons
ROK officials were heartened by Biden's DPRK policy review, which called for a focus on practical diplomatic steps to reduce tensions while maintaining a final goal of persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
But the pandemic, economic and political challenges, and crises elsewhere have shifted the DPRK issue towards a rear burner, complicating Moon's hopes of cementing a peacemaker legacy before leaving office next year.
In a move analysts say appeared a sop to Moon, Biden's Asia policy coordinator Kurt Campbell spoke in an interview with Yonhap news agency this week of building on past agreements with the DPRK, including one reached in Singapore by Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.
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That agreement with Kim Jong-un pledged joint efforts to build a peace regime to end seven decades of hostility on the Korean peninsula, something Moon has energetically pursued.
But the White House has declined to offer specifics of incentives it might offer to entice the DPRK back to talks. “At this juncture, it's really not in our interest to preview or comment on specific issues like an end-of-war declaration in hopes of spurring dialogue," a senior administration official told reporters in a Wednesday evening briefing.
"But you can expect that a significant amount of the upcoming visit will be spent discussing the challenges of the DPRK and how our two countries can move forward together in dialogue." The official said Moon, who arrived in Washington on Wednesday evening, was accompanied by CEOs bringing investments in technology and batteries, high-tech semiconductors, issues associated with 5G and new-age logic chips.
Biden and Moon are to hold a joint news conference late on Friday afternoon after their talks.
ROK has set a target of reducing carbon emissions by 24.4 percent from the 2017 level by 2030 as part of its commitment under the Paris Agreement, but White House global climate policy official John Kerry has been pushing Seoul to double the target.
Biden and Moon are to hold a joint news conference late on Friday afternoon after their talks
The senior administration official said Washington was working with allies like Seoul to decarbonize their power and transportation sectors and seek shared enhanced commitments and ambitions for 2030.
"I think we'll have more to report on this on Friday," he said. Moon, facing dwindling domestic popularity over the pandemic, is under pressure to secure more and faster deliveries of US-made vaccines.
He has promised to secure a vaccine partnership at the summit by harnessing Seoul's biotech production capacity.
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Campbell told Yonhap Moon and Biden would discuss how the United States supports Seoul's fight against COVID-19 and ways to jointly boost global vaccine production. He said summit outcomes would include "tangible partnerships related to addressing supply-chain security and enhancing public and private cooperation on advanced technology."
Ahead of the summit, Ford Motor Co and ROK battery maker SK Innovation are set to launch a battery joint venture in the United States to support the ramp-up of the US automaker's electric vehicle rollout, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. And South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd could begin construction of a planned US$17 billion chip plant in the third quarter of this year, a ROK newspaper reported on Monday.