Interview with Lee Jong-seok

Ex-negotiator: Talk, not sanctions, needed to solve nuclear issue

Seoul has no plan, while Washington shows no will, former Roh Moo-hyun aid says

BY SUBIN KIM , NOVEMBER 25, 2013

A strong aversion to North Korea among policy-makers in Washington and Seoul is hindering the push for a fresh breakthrough in North Korea issues, former unification minister Lee Jong-seok told NK News in an extended interview in Seoul this November.

The former deputy head of the ROK National Security Council in charge of the North Korean nuclear issue between 2003-2006 under former President Roh Moo-hyun argued that North Korea will not collapse due to sanctions alone, and that talking with Pyongyang is the only way to resolve the nuclear issue.

QUESTION U.S. PRIORITIES

The North Korean nuclear program has never been a top priority for the U.S. in its foreign policy, despite the fact that the U.S. maintained a firm opposition to Pyongyang developing nuclear weapons, Lee argued. Drawing on his experiences as deputy secretary general of the National Security Council in the Roh administration, he said that this has at times been a stumbling block in dealing with the North Korean nuclear program.

READ MORE AT NK NEWS

You can read the original transcript of the interview here (Korean)