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Joseph Yun, the previous cost d’affaires advert interim on the US Embassy in Seoul, speaks at a Republic of Korea-US relations seminar placed on by the Korea Inter-Parliamentary Alternate Heart in Washington, DC, on Jan. 16, 2026. (Kim Gained-chul/Hankyoreh)
Joseph Yun, who previously served as chargé d’affaires advert interim on the US Embassy in South Korea, mentioned Friday that “with out South Korean assist, there might be no talks” between the US and North Korea, stressing the function of the present Republic of Korea administration.
Yun minced no phrases when it got here to far-right protesters in Korea who claimed that US President Trump would “save” President Yoon Suk-yeol, saying, “I felt they had been loopy.”
Yun additionally mentioned that considerations in regards to the Lee Jae Myung administration being anti-American, pro-China, which had abounded initially of his time period, have been resolved.
Yun’s feedback got here throughout a seminar hosted by the Korea Inter-Parliamentary Alternate Heart in Washington, DC, on the primary anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration.
“I believe South Korea is the pivotal consider any talks between us and Pyongyang. With out South Korean assist, there might be no talks,” Yun mentioned, recalling that when Trump engaged with North Korea throughout his first administration, it began with the Pyeongchang Olympics and the Moon Jae-in administration sending an envoy.
Yun mentioned the Trump administration needs dialogue with North Korea, however that North Korean chief Kim Jong-un will not be prepared but. He concluded that Kim’s reluctance to strategy the desk is partially because of his expertise with the deal that fell by at Kim’s final assembly with Trump in Hanoi, whereas additionally pointing to North Korea’s more and more shut ties with Russia, facilitated by Pyongyang dispatching troops to battle in opposition to Ukraine. Yun additionally talked about Pyongyang’s improved relations with Beijing and the immense earnings North Korea has amassed by hacking monetary and cryptocurrency establishments and stealing cash.
“What would induce North Korea to return to severe talks with the USA? I believe most instantly, North Korean objectives are twofold: One is to elevate sanctions, and the second is to have their nuclear weapons acknowledged,” Yun assessed.
“It’s just a bit bit totally different from being acknowledged as a nuclear weapons [state]. However I believe at minimal, they wish to be on an identical degree as, say, Pakistan,” the diplomat mentioned.
Yun cautioned that China will seemingly not settle for North Korea’s standing as a nuclear energy.
“However I believe, as you may think about, these two issues might be very troublesome for the worldwide neighborhood, together with South Korea, Japan, US and even China to grant, which is why it’s going to be very troublesome,” he mentioned, indicating that the hole between North Korea’s calls for and what the worldwide neighborhood will tolerate could be very vast.
On the occasion, Yun spoke frankly in regards to the response from the US political sphere main as much as and after Lee Jae Myung’s election as president of South Korea final June, noting that there was numerous “distractions on what Lee Jae Myung was about” — that he was “pro-North Korea, pro-China, anti-US, anti-alliance and so forth.”
Yun mentioned that Lee administration insiders like Wi Sung-lac, a overseas coverage adviser on the time who now serves as nationwide safety adviser, “turned a vital determine in figuring out what the president or the candidate Lee would say and what would occur.”
“What I seen was that all of the sudden, after the election in South Korea, the polarization remained, however I believe the diploma of suspicion on Lee Jae Myung has type of died down,” he added, stressing that the alliance stays agency.
He additionally supplied his sincere ideas on the far-right protests he witnessed throughout his time as appearing ambassador.
“It was a really unusual factor. , you exit of the embassy on Saturday, and even the place I lived, on the residence, simply behind Deoksu [Palace], and these persons are waving American flags and speaking about Yoon, , as if he’s been anointed by God,” he mentioned. “I felt they had been loopy.”
An American with Korean heritage, Yun is a profession diplomat who served because the US ambassador in Malaysia below the Obama administration. In October 2016, he was chosen to behave because the US particular consultant for North Korea coverage below the State Division. He continued serving his function after Trump’s first inauguration in January 2017; he then resigned in March 2018.
When Philip S. Goldberg, the US ambassador to South Korea appointed in 2022 below the Joe Biden administration, left workplace in January 2025, the Biden administration tapped Yun to function appearing ambassador earlier than Trump’s inauguration in the identical month.
Yun served in that function till Kevin Kim was appointed because the appearing ambassador in October 2025.
By Kim Gained-chul, Washington correspondent
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
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