The division of intelligence agencies, which started with the resumption of inter-Korean communication lines, gradually grew, and the race for preemption began.
Park Ji-won, director of the National Intelligence Service, said at the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on the 3rd, "I understand the importance of the ROK-U.S. exercises, but it is also necessary to consider flexibly responding to the exercises in order to maintain the momentum of dialogue and to achieve the big picture of North Korea's denuclearization."
In this regard, North Korea's Vice-Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Yeo-jung, said in a statement on the 1st that "there will be no improvement in inter-Korean relations if the South Korea-US joint exercises are conducted." Earlier, the inter-Korean communication line was reopened on the 27th of last month.
Sejong Institute Jeong-gwang, director of the North Korean Research Center, said in a presentation on the restoration of the communication line on the 2nd that there was a difference between the “direct announcement from the Blue House” and the “reported by the news agency” in North Korea.
Center Director Jeong prepared for the March 16 discourse on Kim Yeo-jeong's 'pull for joint military training' and 'prelude' remarks, and said, "Since it shows an uncompromising position (in the form of scale), restoration of the communication line is likely to lead to dialogue between the North and South authorities or video reunions of separated families. It is slim,” he said.
Lee Jun-hyeok, a research fellow at the National Security Agency's Institute for Security Strategy, said in a report titled 'North Korean Military--- Analysis' on the 4th, "In a statement by Kim Yeo-jung, Vice-Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, he was watching the upcoming ROK-U.S. joint military exercise, and it was said that progress in inter-Korean relations depended on this. “I think this implies that depending on whether the ROK-U.S. combined military exercises, which will begin on the 10th, are held, there may be a military provocation or the inter-Korean communication line may be re-blocked,” he said.
The conclusion of the report, head of the Center Director Jang, is that, "It is desirable that the South Korean government proceed with the scheduled exercise in order to advance the OPCON transfer, rather than forcibly reducing the ROK-U.S. joint exercise under unrealistic expectations for inter-Korean dialogue."
Kim Ki-jung, former deputy head of the Blue House National Security Strategy Research Institute, said in the US on the 30th of last month, "The peace process on the Korean Peninsula is at a crossroads. The United States should listen to South Korea and engage in dialogue with North Korea," he said. I think they thought they were willing to have dialogue with him. Now is the time for the US to start dialogue,” he said at a seminar on the Korean Peninsula Peace Process hosted by the Consulate General in Los Angeles.
"We know what President Moon Jae-in is trying to do, but actors need to agree," said Jonathan Pollock, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a seminar debater. said.
On the 29th of last month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said, citing a Beijing source, that "North Korea has informed China in advance that the inter-Korean communication line will be restored as part of its efforts to improve relations."
“The Kim Jong-un regime may be calculating that survival does not depend on improving relations with the United States as well as South Korea,” said Syler, North Korea official at the National Intelligence Service (NIC) under the US National Intelligence Service (DNI). North Korea knows that neither South Korea nor the United States will attack it,” he said. and there is no guarantee that it can be prevented.”
"Just because it doesn't accept the carrot the U.S. has offered, doesn't mean that North Korea doesn't want to find an exit," said Sylar, speaking at a Washington Times Foundation seminar on the same day. North Korea strategy.
Kim Il-ki and Kim In-tae, research fellows at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said in a report titled 'Analysis Points for Revision of the North Korean Party Rules' on the 4th that the revision of the Labor Party rules was "connected to the reunification of the country by strengthening national defense." From the above, it is judged that the achievement of strengthening the national defense power is intended to be used to enhance negotiating power with South Korea and the United States. said.
Former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok (senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute) said, "It is not true that North Korea is pursuing unification, and it has also given up the revolution in South Korea. North Korea's theory of a unified front toward South Korea has weakened, and it seems that the theory of the revolution in South Korea has disappeared from the rules," he said on June 2nd.
Former Minister Lee continued, “The decline of the revolutionary line toward South Korea and the discourse on unification. It means taking pictures. This revision is in line with 'Our State Firstism', which emphasizes the national character of 'socialist North Korea', and indicates a deepening of the nationalist tendency."