South Korea and the US ‘prevent North Korea from using nuclear weapons’, make progress, North Korea and Japan ‘visit North Korea’ South Korea ‘strategic headquarters’
South Korea and the United States are making progress in negotiations between North Korea and the United States by switching to preventing North Korea from using nuclear weapons, and a soccer match between North Korea and Japan will be held in Pyongyang on the 26th.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs downsized the existing Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters and established a new Diplomatic Strategic Intelligence Headquarters, replacing the senior North Korean nuclear representative system.
At the Seoul Forum co-hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the 4th, White House Senior Director Mira Rap Hooper said, “There may be ‘intermediate measures’ in the process,” regarding the policy goal of ‘complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’ “If we can make the region and the world safer in the process, we will consider intermediate measures,” he said on the ‘progress in North Korea-US negotiations.’
At the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on the 5th, U.S. State Department Representative for North Korea Jeong Park publicly stated the need for “intermediate measures for denuclearization,” saying, “The reality is that denuclearization does not happen overnight,” and approached “recognition of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.”
In an unusual bunker interview during the “Shield of Freedom” ROK-U.S. joint military exercise, Commander-in-Chief of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Paul Ruckamra told Wall Street, “The focus on deterring North Korea has shifted from halting the development of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities to preventing its use of nuclear weapons.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on the 11th that in an interview held at CP Tango, the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Center in Seongnam, near Seoul, Commander Rucamera said, "We must give assurance that positive actions will be responded to with positive actions and negative actions with negative actions." It was stated that the ongoing ‘Shield of Freedom’ ROK-US joint exercise “is aimed at responding to a wide range of potential threats from the North Korean military.”
WSJ also reported that Kang Shin-cheol, deputy commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, said in an interview, “North Korea’s weapons are a real and clear threat,” and likened the response strategy to reaching a stalemate in chess, adding, “(North Korea) is trying to create a situation where it cannot use nuclear weapons.” He said, “There is,” and was reported as ‘recognition of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.’
WSJ reported that Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “South Korea and the United States are still working on developing acceptable responses for all scenarios,” and added, “I think there is some sunshine between the two countries.” It indicated progress.
The Voice of America (VOA) reported on the 11th that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed the North Korean nuclear negotiations from the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters to the ‘Diplomatic Strategic Intelligence Headquarters.’
Starting in 2006, South Korea's chief representative for North Korean nuclear weapons was changed from the vice-minister-level head of the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters to the head of the Diplomatic Strategy and Intelligence Headquarters, and the negotiation function was expanded to include diplomatic strategy, information, and international security, demonstrating a response to 'North American negotiations'.
The newly created Diplomatic Strategic Intelligence Headquarters had four directors as subordinate organizations, including the Director of the Korean Peninsula Foreign Policy Bureau, the Director of Diplomatic Information Planning, the Director of Diplomatic Strategy Planning, and the Director of the International Security Bureau.
The existing Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters was reduced from the Korean Peninsula Foreign Policy Bureau to Indo-Pacific strategy, disarmament and non-proliferation, and diplomatic intelligence analysis.
North Korea and Japan agreed to hold a World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang on the 26th, leading to high-ranking Japanese officials traveling to Pyongyang and the possibility of Prime Minister Kishida visiting North Korea.
The Asian Football Confederation visited Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Stadium in advance to inspect it and notified the Japan Football Association on the 11th, and Kyodo News reported on Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Stadium following the North Korea-Japan soccer preliminaries.
Kyodo News said the game will start at 5 p.m., and that it will be the first time in four years that North Korea has played a national soccer game in Pyongyang.
North Korea suspended its home international match after playing the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian second qualifying match against South Korea at Kim Il-sung Stadium on October 15, 2019.
The first match of the 2024 Paris Olympics women's soccer preliminaries between North Korea and Japan held last month was initially scheduled to be held at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang and changed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
On the 8th, Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho announced the unification policy promotion plan, saying, "The Ministry of Unification has reported a plan to prepare a new unification plan that reflects the liberal philosophy, which is a constitutional value and a universal human value."