The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, underlined on Saturday 1 June, the EU's readiness to help North and South Korea reach an agreement on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue international conference in Singapore, Ms Mogherini said that the Inter-Korean and the US-North Korea talks were linked and would only advance in parallel. “A group of facilitators might be useful to break the impasse, and to guarantee that any obstacle will not derail both processes”, she argued, since the last US-North Korea summit was a failure (see EUROPE 12204/31). Thus, while Ms Mogherini said that Japan, China or Russia could make a “positive and important” contribution to the negotiation process, “the EU is ready to do its part”. More generally, she highlighted the need for a strong multilateral process, “an inclusive process where all relevant actors can contribute. And an effective process, where both parties feel that they have something to gain”.
Ms Mogherini recalled the EU's role in the Iranian deal. “We have our own expertise in nuclear negotiations. We know how difficult - also technically difficult - they can be, and how to make negotiations more ‘resilient’ against shocks”, she said. The High Representative offered to help shape the monitoring and verification system. “We could also put on the table of negotiations our financial support, both as leverage and as a contribution to ‘winning the peace’ if and when a deal is finally reached. And we can help to address human rights issues, which are essential”, she added.
For the High Representative, “It might be necessary to give some security guarantees to North Korea: they should know that the goal is peace and de-nuclearisation, and nothing else”. She said the EU would only lift its sanctions against Pyonyang once a deal is reached and implemented. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)