Experts view new N.K. foreign minister as open-minded to dialogue

Ri Yong-ho

SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korea’s newly-appointed Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho appears to be relatively open-minded, and his appointment could signal the communist country’s willingness to open dialogue with the United States, a news report and experts said Wednesday.

“He is a very competent person with a deep knowledge of issues. He fiercely represents North Korean interests, but still he is someone you can talk to,” a report by Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) quoted former U.S. State Department official Joel Wit as saying.

South Korean officials confirmed Tuesday that the North tapped Ri, previously vice foreign minister, to replace Ri Su-yong as the country’s top diplomat.

Having joined in the initial stages of the now-suspended U.S. denuclearization negotiations with the North in the 1990′s, Wit said he has known the new foreign minister for over 20 years, according to the VOA report.

“I don’t mean he is more flexible or reasonable than other North Koreans. … North Koreans have their own perspective of seeing the world,” said Wit, now a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Donald Gregg also told the VOA that the latest appointment provides hints that North Korea is warming up to a dialogue mode with the U.S.

“Ri Yong-ho is fluent in English, likes to make jokes and is willing to mend ties with the U.S.,” the VOA quoted Gregg, who has met with Ri during visits to Pyongyang in 2012 and 2014. “Kim Jong-un’s choice of Ri as a foreign minister indicates that (he) wants talks with the U.S., not confrontation.”

Gregg said North Korea may muster its flexibility under certain conditions although it remains to be seen if the North will reach out to the U.S. first or the other way around.

South Korean experts voiced similar views with Prof. Jung Chang-Hyun at Kookmin University in Seoul saying that Ri “seems to have a belief that (North Korea) should consistently follow the policy line of seeking dialogue.”

The professor said Minister Ri has made many unconventional remarks during his term as a vice foreign minister and seems to “have a certain extent of power” to do so even during open-to-the-public events.

North Korean defector-turned-think tank chief Ahn Chan-il also said, “The appointment of Ri, who is much experienced in U.S. issues, could mean hopes, albeit very slim, for North-U.S. relations.”

Since the early 1990′s, Ri has participated in North Korea’s various negotiations with the U.S., including on nuclear issues, and has been Pyongyang’s chief negotiator for the now-dormant six-party denuclearization forum involving South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.