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What leaders of 2 Koreas discussed in rare exchange of letters
According to North Korea’s state media, Kim Jong Un on Wednesday received a personal letter from outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in. He replied on Thursday with his own letter appreciating Moon’s peace efforts during his term.
Only on rare occasions do you hear one Korean supremo praising his counterpart of the other half of the divided nation. This time North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has thanked South Korea's outgoing president for trying to improve relations, an unexpected gesture of goodwill, in an exchange of letters.
According to North Korea’s state media, Kim Jong Un on Wednesday received a personal letter from outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in. He replied on Thursday with his own letter appreciating Moon’s peace efforts during his term.
"Kim Jong Un appreciated the pains and effort taken by Moon Jae-in for the great cause of the nation until the last days of his term of office," North Korea's KCNA state news agency reported.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said their exchange of letters showed their “deep trust.” Moon's office also confirmed the exchanged "letters of friendship" with Kim.
The warm words between the two leaders come less than three weeks before Moon leaves office to be replaced by a conservative leader who has already signalled a tougher line on North Korea.
Moon said the "era of confrontation" should be overcome with dialogue, and inter-Korean engagement was now a task for the next administration, his spokeswoman told a briefing. Moon also expressed hope for the swift resumption of U.S.-North Korea denuclearisation talks.
Kim said in his reply on Thursday that their "historic" summits gave the people "hope for the future", and the two agreed that ties would develop if both sides "make tireless efforts with hope", KCNA reported.
PRETEXT FOR BLAME?
The exchange came as US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim was in South Korea for talks.
Analysts were sceptical that North Korea's message heralded a broader improvement in relations, and warned that the praise for Moon could be a bid to portray his successor, Yoon Suk-yeol, as responsible for any further deterioration in ties.
"This looks more like another step in building the pretext to blame Yoon for more escalation from North Korea, rather than an olive branch to Yoon or Biden," said Markus Garlauskas, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council think tank and former U.S. national intelligence officer for North Korea.
Last month, North Korea launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), ending a self-imposed 2017 moratorium.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the letters could signal to Yoon that the door for cooperation was still open but greater military deterrence and a stronger US alliance are needed to counter the North's "provocations".
Tension escalated when North Korea last month conducted its first full ICBM test since 2017, and there are concerns that it is preparing to restart nuclear testing.
LEGACY AT STAKE
Moon staked his legacy on improving inter-Korean ties and helped arrange unprecedented meetings between Kim Jong Un and then U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.
Three summits Kim and Moon held in 2018 promised peace and reconciliation but relations have soured, with the North warning of destructive action and demolishing facilities built by South Korean firms for joint projects.
In 2020, the North spectacularly blew up a joint liaison office on the border, which Moon's government had spent 9.78 billion won ($8.6 million) renovating.
The two leaders tried again to mend ties last year but little progress was made and Pyongyang then criticised Seoul's "double standards" over weapons.
North Korea's statement left open a possibility for Moon to play a role as envoy, but Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said it was unlikely to have a positive impact on his reputation.
The statement could stir controversy in the South by portraying Moon as "a deluded peacenik who, after all the weapons tests North Korea has conducted in the last eight months, is still writing convivial letters to Kim", Green said.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP)
