문 대통령 대북제재 해제 카드, 국제사회 호응할까? - 제임스 김 박사 대담

Joining us today we have Dr. James Kim, a research fellow from the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Thank you for coming on the show today.

My pleasure.

Perhaps what was not explicitly stated in that report was what President Moon said about North Korea sanctions. He said, quote, "We must further encourage North Korea's denuclearization process by easing UN sanctions when and if we decide the North's denuclearization process has at least reached a point of no return." So he has put a disclaimer saying sanctions relief will come only after denuclearization, but it's perhaps the strongest call for the easing of sanctions that we have. What is your reaction to what he said in France?

President Macron was perhaps not quite as open to talk about easing sanctions as President Moon was. He said, "We are ready to fulfill every mission given to us as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to realize complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea." There was speculation that President Moon might try to twist Macron's arm to get him more on the side towards cooperation with North Korea, but it seems France is not yet ready to go that far?

In their joint statement, the term CVID, complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization of North Korea was used. The U.S. in recent months has been using FFVD, final and fully verifiable denuclearization. Do you think there is any importance in the terminology that they use?

President Moon has brought up the topic of easing sanctions on the global stage now. But he seems to be fighting against the tide. What is his thinking and do you think he can convince others to follow?

Meanwhile, a U.S. State Department spokesperson has said that they expect all UN member states to fully implement North Korea sanctions, and the spokesperson quoted President Moon saying, 'The improvement of relations between North and South Korea cannot advance separately from resolving North Korea's nuclear program.' This statement comes after the two Koreas held high level talks on Monday and agreed to further work towards the project to connect railway and road networks, and that they will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony later this year for it. The U.S. State Department's statement seems to be expressing reservations about Seoul's actions. How serious do you think it is?

U.S. President Donald Trump has said "North Korea is coming along very well. Relationships are very good. I think a lot of good things will happen." How do we reconcile that statement, with the statement of the U.S. State Department, along with the U.S. Treasury Department's actions to add a secondary boycott risk list to existing North Korea sanctions last week?