A US State Department official has dismissed concerns that South Korea could be sidelined if the United States resumes nuclear dialogue with North Korea, suggesting Washington remains fully engaged in Korea-related issues at all levels.
Kevin Kim, US deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remarks as the return of President Donald Trump to the Oval Office has raised the prospect of another summit diplomacy between him and the North's leader Kim Jong-un on Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
The outlook has sparked concerns in South Korea that it could be excluded in the course of nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, especially given that Seoul has been under acting leadership due to the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law attempt.
"The honest answer is no," Kim said in a press availability with South Korean media on Wednesday, when asked about whether South Korea should be worried about "Korea passing" -- a buzzword commonly used to refer to the potential bypassing of Seoul in denuclearization talks with the North.
"There are very, very high expectations of Korea," Kim said. "I've been working on this (Korean Peninsula) issue for almost 20 years. I can tell you that there is a complete sea change in both the attitude and the expectations of senior officials in Washington D.C., whether that is from the executive branch, from the administration, or from bipartisan members of Congress," he said.
Kim said he has never been concerned about the level of attention South Korea would receive.
"It's the same on any issue," Kim said. "I'm not worried about the level of attention that Korea will get. When I took this position, I did not have one iota of concern, or question, on if we would be able to get senior level attention on an issue."
Kim was visiting Seoul this week for meetings with key officials from South Korea's foreign ministry for discussions on bilateral alliance and North Korean issues, according to diplomatic sources.
Kim's visit appears to be a working-level trip aimed at managing US-South Korea relations and sharpening Trump's North Korea policy.
His trip marks the first known visit by a US State Department official since the start of Trump's second term.
Kim, a Korean descent, previously served as an aide to US Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and worked at the State Department's office for the special representative for North Korea from 2018 to 2020 under Trump's first term.
At that time, Kim worked with Stephen Biegun, then US special envoy for North Korea who led the working-level negotiations with Pyongyang amid the flurry of nuclear diplomacy.
Trump and the North's leader Kim met three times during Trump's first term, but their nuclear dialogue collapsed without a deal in February 2019. (Yonhap)
