National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said on the 28th that South Korea will ensure it is not sidelined if talks between the United States and North Korea move forward. "One of the points to watch is making sure our security posture is not loosened and that South Korea is not passed over," Wi said. The remarks outline a plan to support U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to engage Pyongyang while carving out a role for Seoul.
Meeting reporters at the presidential office, Wi said Trump has recently scaled back combined South Korea-U.S. exercises and field training while continuing to signal a willingness to engage North Korea. "We intend to take a multidimensional approach that also prepares appropriately for the points we need to watch in this process," the adviser said.
"One of those points is coordinating with the U.S. side so that any resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks brings substantive progress on the North Korean nuclear issue along with the building of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula," Wi said. "Policy coordination and communication between South Korea and the United States are more important than ever if this work is to go smoothly." He added that a range of pending issues remains between the two countries, including investment, corporate matters such as Coupang, security cooperation, intelligence cooperation and the transfer of wartime operational control. The government is working to strengthen the coordination framework with Washington by managing those issues effectively, he said.
Wi also described his talks with Wang Yi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo and foreign minister, during Wang's recent visit to South Korea. On the security dialogue channel between the two countries, reopened after five years, Wi said the two sides discussed a possible visit by him to China and exchanged views on ways to restart cooperation among South Korea, China and Japan. He said he also urged China to offer constructive cooperation on the policy of peaceful coexistence that President Lee Jae-myung set out in his Liberation Day address. The two sides agreed to begin preparations in earnest for Lee's attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.
