South Korean President Moon Jae-in was instrumental in brokering negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington in 2018, after years of missile tests and threats by the administrations of both countries.
The first summit in June between US President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore produced a commitment to "work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".
Their second meeting in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi last month, however, , as the two leaders failed to come to a deal over denuclearisation and sanctions relief.
Since then, the North has said it was considering suspending the talks and images have emerged of rebuilding works at the Sohae rocket launch facilities, a site it pledged to dismantle in September.
Speaking exclusively to SBS Korean, President Moon's senior adviser on national security Professor Chung-in Moon said there was "no acrimony" when both leaders parted ways in Hanoi.
President Trump and Chairman Kim during their Hanoi talks (AAP) Source: AAP
"If the talks went bad, we would have seen several tweets by President Trump criticising Chairman Kim; there are none so far. Then there are John Bolton and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo coherently reiterating that the door to dialogue is open, which is encouraging," he said.
"Likewise, the typical response for North Korea when a negotiation collapses would be to slam the US or its president through its media such as KCNA and Rodong Sinmun. But there was no such report either."
'Partially lifting' UN sanctions
In Hanoi, Prof Chung-in said President Trump urged Chairman Kim to agree on what the adviser called a "big deal" which involved the permanent and verifiable dismantling of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and missiles, in return for the "normalisation of relations, a peace declaration and sanctions relief".
The adviser said, however, that Chairman Kim instead pressed for a “small deal” which involved the complete dismantlement of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the country's major nuclear facility, in exchange for the lifting of United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed since 2016.
"The South Korean government regards both deals as meaningful approaches," Prof Chung-in said, adding that the current impasse can only be broken if both countries agreed on a comprehensive deal encompassing Washington’s demands, with an "incremental plan for implementation, a road map that is mutually acceptable".
Prof Chung-in suggested that a first step in the roadmap could be for Washington to press for a partial lifting of sanctions, in exchange for Pyongyang's dismantling of the Yongbyon facility.
SBS Korean program's senior producer Leah Na interviews Prof Chung-in Moon. Source: SBS
"Yongbyon is the country’s main nuclear complex with a 5-megawatt reactor, a nuclear fuel fabrication plant, a reprocessing plant used to separate plutonium, a tritium laboratory for hydrogen bombs as well as a uranium enrichment plant," he said.
"Permanent and verifiable closure of such facilities is a first step towards reaching an irreversible stage of denuclearisation and, if the US takes compensating measures, then it could deliver a breakthrough to the current impasse. Anyhow the key point here is that North Korea needs to take some proactive measures."
A file handout image from a DigitalGlobe satellite showing the Yongbyon nuclear facility. Source: AAP
Inter-Korean economic cooperation
Prof Chung-in said it was not possible for the US to completely lift UN sanctions on Pyongyang in exchange for the dismantling the Yongbyon facility, but highlighted that Washington could "introduce some exemptions allowing inter-Korean economic cooperation" and as an alternative to full sanctions relief.
President Moon's cooperation with the North has focussed on restarting defunct projects in the North, including the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Zone and permitting South Korean tourists to visit the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region.
Located within the special administrative industrial region of North Korea and only ten kilometres from the Demilitarised Zone, the Kaesong Industrial Zone, which was formed in 2002, is a collaborative economic development with South Korea.
Before its amid political tensions in 2016, the facility allowed South Korean companies to employ local workers, whilst providing North Korea with a source of foreign currency.
General view of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and town of Kaesong in North Korea seen from the Dora Observatory in the Demilitarized Zone. Source: AAP
President Moon has expressed his desire to "reopen and expand" the facility, however, his adviser highlighted that UN sanctions make that a difficult prospect.
"Resolutions by the United Nations Security Council make it very hard for Kaesong Industrial Zone as there is an issue of cash and manufacturing materials flowing into North Korea," Prof Chung-in said.
"Having said that, South Korean firms could pay wages directly to North Korean workers and deposit the rest into Pyongyang’s escrow account set up in Seoul. The North can then use the money to purchase goods in the South; that could be one option."
The Mount Kumgang Tourist Park in the southern region of North Korea was open to tourists from the South between 1998 and 2008. The South Korean government suspended tours to the resort in 2008 after a 53-year-old tourist was shot dead after entering a military area, according to Pyongyang.
Prof Chung-in said reopening the park to South Korean tourists would not be in violation of UN sanctions.
In this Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, tourists visit Mount Kumgang in North Korea. Source: AAP
"If Hyundai Asan gets money from tourists and hands bulk cash over to North Korea, there could have been an infringement. However, when the South Korean public visits the North as individual tourists and pays money there, they might be exempted from the sanctions. The South Korean government is probably looking into that option," he said.
Prof Chung-in said it was unlikely that both Koreas could carry out such projects without Washington's support, and he urged the North to "take proactive steps" to allow inspections at its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, or by dismantling missile engine testing site or a rocket launchpad in Dongchang-ri.
"That gives us something to take to the US and to the international community."
