Kim Jong-un will use nuclear weapons to push for more from West, ex-South Korean negotiator says
Korean peninsula has entered ‘totally different phase’ and Pyongyang will want economic sweeteners, according to lawmaker involved in six-party talks
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is using his nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip to get economic sweeteners from the international community and wants to present the hermit kingdom as a “normal state”, a former head of Seoul’s delegation to the six-party talks said.
Lee Soo-hyuck said the Korean peninsula situation had entered a “totally different phase” now that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, giving Kim leverage in his negotiations with the West.
Lee represented Seoul at the six-party talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear programme in 2003.
The South Korean lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said that Kim would not be satisfied with giving up the nuclear weapons in exchange for a normalisation of ties with the United States, saying that he would also push for economic incentives.
Lee said it was to be expected that Kim would want to bargain with the international community.
“North Korea’s nuclear weapons are worth more than just the normalisation of the relationship with the US,” Lee said.
“Kim will see establishing diplomatic relations with Washington as a matter of course. But he will also go further and demand economic sweeteners.”