By Jihoon Lee and Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s foreign minister said on Wednesday he was devising a roadmap to prepare for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s potential reopening of nuclear talks with North Korea, conceding Seoul’s political turmoil had disrupted ties with Trump’s team.
At a rare joint news conference for foreign media, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok sought to reassure Seoul’s allies and calm market jitters since President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law attempt that triggered the nation’s biggest political crisis in decades.
Cho said Seoul had built a network and communication channels with Trump’s campaign that were “stronger than those of any other country”, but the martial law order caused disruptions and weakened political momentum between the two sides.
Cho’s team has been crafting a roadmap for a possible restart of talks between Washington and Pyongyang, he said, pointing to Trump’s pick of his former intelligence chief as envoy for special missions including North Korea policy.
“We take that appointment as evidence that President-elect Trump is not neglecting the North Korea nuclear issue, and I think we need to respond more proactively,” he said.
“Our communication with North Korea has been cut off as they have refused dialogue and negotiations, but we are open to all opportunities to talk to North Korea, including on the nuclear issue, if there are any.”
Pyongyang has ignored four years of outreach by U.S. President Joe Biden to resume dialogue with no preconditions, but Trump’s team was pursuing direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping to reduce risks of an armed clash.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE UNDER TRUMP
As South Korea struggles to contain the fallout from the turmoil across financial and foreign exchange markets, Seoul must navigate an uncertain future with its ally the United States under Trump.
Yoon was impeached on Saturday and the Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove him from office or restore his power. He has been of suspended from presidential duties, which means if the court takes months to decide his fate he will be unable to deal with Trump after his Jan. 20 inauguration.
After the martial law attempt, Washington had issued unusually blunt criticism, with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell calling Yoon’s decision “badly misjudged”.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday he had not predicted the martial law attempt but likened it to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
“I think it’s important for us to recognise that dramatic events happen even in highly advanced, consolidated democracies,” Sullivan said at an event. “The real test is, can the democratic institutions hold at the end of the day, even if they bend.”
Finance Minister Choi said the government would utilise all available resources to manage the economy as stably as possible and actively respond to excessive volatility in foreign exchange.
Cho and Choi were among cabinet ministers who had openly opposed Yoon’s plan for martial law at a late-night meeting convened shortly before his declaration.
Cho, testifying at parliament last week, said he had warned it was serious enough to “destroy all the achievements the country has made over the last 70 years”, but added that Yoon ignored his repeated plea to reconsider.
“The last time martial law was imposed in Korea was in 1979, when I joined the foreign ministry,” Cho told the news conference, adding he was “stunned” by the decision and had never imagined it recurring 45 years later.
Trump has also raised prospects for a negotiated end to Russia’s war against Ukraine, but Cho said it would take some time until it happened and there was a need to respond to North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia while monitoring the situation.
On China, Cho said President Xi Jinping was expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea in 2025, which would mark his first visit to the country in 11 years.
He also described Beijing’s decision to extend visa-free entry to South Koreans as part of both sides’ high-level strategic communication and efforts to improve ties, and said Seoul was also exploring possible reciprocal measures.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee in Seoul; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in Seoul and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry)
