South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C), alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, in this file photo taken June 30, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The foreign ministry will scale back the bureau handling the North Korean nuclear issue and create a broader strategy department focused on foreign policy intelligence-gathering, officials said Thursday, a major shakeup that mirrors the prolonged impasse in nuclear talks with Pyongyang.
The tentatively named Office of Strategy and Intelligence will replace the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, with three new units to be set up under its wing — diplomatic strategy, intelligence, and international security, the ministry said in its 2024 policy plan reported to the presidential office.
The Korean Peninsula affairs unit will exist as the new office’s fourth bureau.
The revamp plan marks a big change about 18 years after the Korean Peninsula office was established amid the flurry of nuclear diplomacy with the North that unfolded with the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
The Korean Peninsula office was created as an ad hoc unit in 2006 to handle the six-way talks and became a standing body of the foreign ministry in 2011. It consists of two bureaus led by director generals each in charge of nuclear negotiations and peace policy with the North.
But the prolonged deadlock in nuclear negotiations with the North, and the change in foreign policy landscape have called for a revision in the organizational structure, the ministry said.
The foreign ministry building in Seoul (Yonhap)
“The nature of North Korean issues has changed. It’s not only about nuclear and missile threats, but cybercrimes for illicit funding and how to deal with them in response, such as financial sanctions,” a foreign ministry official told reporters.
The official stressed that the effective downsizing of the Korean Peninsula office does not mean that the government places less importance on the North Korea nuclear issues.
“We intend to add the strategy and intelligence functions so as to address the Korean Peninsula issues in a much larger context,” he said.
The chief of the new office will continue to serve as the country’s top nuclear envoy.
The ministry said the plan will be finalized after coordination with related government agencies in accordance with due procedures.
The nuclear dialogue with the North has remained stalled since the no-deal Hanoi summit between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Dialogue prospects have further lost momentum amid the geopolitical challenges posed by the U.S.-China rivalry and the increasingly soured ties between the West and Russia.
Under the revamp plan, the new strategy and intelligence office will be tasked with gathering and analyzing intelligence to build foreign policy strategies, akin to the Bureau of the Intelligence and Research under the U.S. State Department, the ministry said.
A new director position will be created to be in charge of South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy, a key foreign policy for the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The ministry also plans to add a new unit in charge of economic security issues, such as supply chains, that have emerged as key foreign policy agenda items in recent years.
As for its 2024 foreign policy goals, the ministry said it will continue to “unwaveringly” pursue the denuclearization policy for North Korea to ensure peace and stability.
The government will step up efforts to cut off the North’s major illicit funding channels, such as cyber activities and ship-to-ship transfers, to delay and deter the North’s nuclear and missile development, it said.
It will also work to promote the North’s human rights situation by raising the awareness of the international community and protecting North Korean defectors overseas.
The ministry said it will keep the momentum going for a strong alliance with the U.S. and improved bilateral relations with Japan, while working to build a sustainable relationship with China and strategically managing ties with Russia.
(Yonhap)
