Unification Minister Chung Dong-young met with Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Tuesday, who visited Seoul after stops in China and North Korea. Given that Balakrishnan had just returned from Pyongyang, the two are believed to have held in-depth discussions on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula.
A Unification Ministry official told reporters at the Government Complex in Seoul that "Minister Chung met with Minister Balakrishnan." Since Balakrishnan visited China and North Korea immediately before coming to Seoul, the two are presumed to have discussed the Korean Peninsula situation.
In particular, as Balakrishnan met with high-ranking North Korean officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Supreme People's Assembly Standing Committee Chairman Jo Yong-won before traveling to Seoul, some details of those conversations are believed to have been shared. Balakrishnan urged the North Korean foreign minister to "keep dialogue channels open with regional countries" and invited her to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) scheduled for July.
Balakrishnan was initially scheduled to meet only with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, but the meeting with Minister Chung was reportedly arranged unexpectedly.
Separately, the Unification Ministry official commented on remarks by a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who responded to the "denuclearization of North Korea" pledge by the Quad — the security framework comprising the United States, Japan, Australia, and India — by stating that "denuclearization will absolutely never happen, ever." The official said, "Since North Korea has perceived the Quad as the foundation for an Asian version of NATO and has criticized it on multiple occasions, in a broad sense the remarks follow that pattern."
The official added, however, that "compared with the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in July last year, there are distinctive features in both form and content." Whereas last year North Korea responded through a formal Foreign Ministry spokesperson's statement, this time the spokesperson responded in a question-and-answer format with reporters, indicating a lower level of formality.
The Foreign Ministry also referenced the situations in the East China Sea and South China Sea, issuing a warning to the Quad to "refrain from any hardline measures." The official noted that "while last year's response focused on criticizing the United States, this time North Korea also criticized Japan, Australia and others beyond the U.S., and showed a stance of defending China's position." The official added, "At the same time, North Korea consistently reaffirmed its position that denuclearization is impossible."
