SEOUL - South Korea's point man on inter-Korean affairs has pledged to mount "diverse efforts" to restart stalled nuclear talks and work with the new Biden administration to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
Imposing more sanctions may not work, said South Korea's Unification Minister Lee In-young.
Earlier this week, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the new Biden administration could resort to additional sanctions in cooperation with US allies to push North Korea towards abandoning nuclear weapons.
But Mr Lee on Wednesday (Feb 3) argued first for a review of what sanctions had achieved so far and if they were effective in inducing denuclearisation.
"Strengthening sanctions might not be everything but applying sanctions flexibly can contribute towards denuclearisation negotiations," he said at a briefing for foreign media.
Mr Lee noted that the Biden administration considered Pyongyang's nuclear activities as a "serious threat" and was reviewing US policy towards North Korea in a bid to come up with a new strategy.
While the outcome remains to be seen, South Korea would "continue to clarify our position and make sure that our two countries are on the same page when it comes to dealing with North Korea", he added.
The minister also said that South Korea would carefully review whether to resume major joint military exercises with the US in March, taking into account issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics, and the Biden administration's stance towards North Korea.
The drills were cancelled in 2018 by former US president Donald Trump after his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The move was described as a goodwill gesture towards Pyongyang, which abhors the drills as a rehearsal for invasion.
"I sincerely hope the two Koreas will cope wisely and deal flexibly with the situation so that the issue of joint military exercise does not escalate to a serious problem," Mr Lee said.
South Korea, in the meantime, will try to "discover new opportunities to improve inter-Korean ties, expand room for cooperation and lead changes", he added.
This could include humanitarian exchanges and cooperation in Covid-19 response measures. Pyongyang, though, has denied having Covid-19 cases and rejected Seoul's offer of aid.
Mr Lee also refuted media reports that the South Korean government drafted a secret plan in 2018 to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea, calling them "baseless allegations".
Reports emerged last week that the plans were found in documents deleted by officials in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy ahead of an audit. It led to speculation that President Moon Jae-in discussed the plan with North Korean leader Mr Kim during their first summit in 2018.
"My ministry is in charge of inter-Korean cooperation and we never had any discussion with North Korea about building a nuclear power plant," said Mr Lee.
