SEOUL, South Korea — A pink telephone. A New York mission. Swedish diplomats. A North-South Korean hotline.
The US and reclusive North Korea don’t have any diplomatic ties — however they nonetheless have methods to contact one another. An American official mentioned Wednesday that the U.S. authorities had reached out to the North because it tries to debate a U.S. soldier who dashed into North Korea throughout a tour of a border space this week. The North has not but responded, in accordance with the U.S.
This is a take a look at doable channels the rivals might use to debate Pvt. Travis King, the primary American held in North Korea in almost 5 years.
Pink Telephone
Probably the most dependable methods for the U.S. to succeed in North Korea is through a light-weight pink-colored, touch-tone telephone on the U.S.-led U.N. Command on the Korean border village of Panmunjom, the place the place King bolted into the North on Tuesday. The phone line connects the liaison officers from all sides — whose places of work are reportedly solely 40 meters (130 ft) aside.
State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned Wednesday that the Pentagon reached out to its counterparts within the North’s Korean Individuals’s Army however “these communications haven’t but been answered.”
Miller didn’t elaborate. However observers say the U.S. possible used the “pink telephone.”
In January, the U.N. Command tweeted that it had maintained “24/7/365” contact with the North’s military all through 2022.
“Speaking through the ‘pink telephone,’ we handed 98 messages & held twice-daily line checks for well timed & significant info alternate,” it mentioned.
Moon Seong Mook, a retired South Korean brigadier common, mentioned North Korean liaison officers seem to not be answering the calls made by the U.N. Command on the order of their higher-ups.
When North Korea beforehand suspended that phone line, U.N. officers used a megaphone, Moon mentioned.
The precise motive for King’s border crossing is unclear. He was convicted of assault in South Korea and could possibly be discharged from the navy and face different potential penalties.
New York Mission
Miller mentioned the U.S. retains various channels to ship messages to North Korea.
A type of is North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in New York that has offered a back-channel negotiation choice for the 2 international locations, serving as a form of substitute embassy since they do not have embassies in one another’s capitals.
The mission performed an essential position in understanding particulars for the high-stakes summitry between North Korean chief Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018-19. In the beginning of their second summit in Vietnam, each Kim and Trump mentioned they supported the opening of a U.S. liaison workplace in Pyongyang, however the thought was shelved after their diplomacy broke down.
Swedish Embassy
Sweden, which does have relations with the North and an embassy in Pyongyang, has provided consular companies for U.S. residents, together with those that had been detained in North Korea on costs of illegally coming into the nation or partaking in espionage acts.
Miller mentioned State Division officers have reached out to Sweden on King’s case.
However a mediator position for Sweden could possibly be difficult by the truth that its diplomats based mostly in Pyongyang reportedly haven’t returned to the North since leaving the nation on account of its extreme COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. Nonetheless, consultants say the North’s Embassy in Sweden could possibly be a channel for communications
Different Hotlines
The rival Koreas have a set of telephone and fax channels of their very own to arrange conferences, organize border crossings and keep away from unintentional navy clashes. However North Korea has been unresponsive to South Korean makes an attempt to alternate messages through these channels since April at a time of heightened animosities over the North’s nuclear program.
Kim Yeol Soo, an professional at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Army Affairs, mentioned communication might occur through a hotline between the 2 Koreas’ spy businesses. That line was reportedly beforehand energetic when others stalled. South Korea’s International Ministry mentioned Thursday that Seoul and Washington have been involved, with out elaborating.
Prospects
Kim, the professional, mentioned North Korea received’t reply to the U.S. outreach till it completes its investigation of King, and that may possible take no less than two weeks. After the investigation, he mentioned {that a} protracted negotiation between the U.S. State Division and the North Korean International Ministry is predicted.
Whereas King’s custody might present North Korea with a instrument to wrest diplomatic concessions from the U.S., the nation would additionally discover it tough to detain a low-ranking solider with out a lot high-profile intelligence on the U.S. for an prolonged interval, Moon mentioned.
“If he expresses his hopes to return dwelling, it could be burdensome for North Korea to carry him however they’d nonetheless attempt to attain a cope with the U.S. to get what it desires,” Moon, now an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Analysis Institute for Nationwide Technique, mentioned.
Up to now, North Korea launched U.S. civilian detainees after high-profile People equivalent to former presidents travelled to Pyongyang to win their freedoms. Kim mentioned comparable steps could possibly be required in King’s case.
King’s entry to North Korea is a humiliation to the U.S., mentioned Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant common who commanded South Korea’s particular forces, noting that it got here the identical day that the USA took main steps towards boosting its safety dedication to South Korea. It deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the primary time in 4 a long time and held the inaugural assembly of a bilateral nuclear consultative physique with South Korea. North Korea test-fired two missiles on Wednesday, apparently in response.
“The information of the nuclear submarine and the nuclear consultative physique have been each buried by him,” mentioned Chun.
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