[Kiho Han's Column] The "Thread of Needle" and Inter-Korean Relations... Focusing on the US-China Summit

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE

One of the most frequently used metaphors in inter-Korean relations these days is the "eye of a needle." President Lee Jae-myung has used this metaphor repeatedly to promote a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations. The Lee Jae-myung administration's Korean Peninsula policy centers on peaceful coexistence. Rooted philosophically in Ahn Jung-geun's "Theory of East Asian Peace," it aims to uphold the policies of peaceful coexistence adopted by successive administrations since the adoption of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement (1991), and to pursue peace and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. The rhetoric of "eye of a needle" lies at the heart of this arduous starting point. On a flight to Turkey (November 24th) following his visit to South Africa last November, President Lee declared, "Inter-Korean relations are in a very precarious state," and emphasized, "We must continuously strive to penetrate even the eye of a needle." In a foreign press interview the following month (December 3), he compared the current situation between North and South Korea to "not even the eye of a needle." Two weeks later, in a business report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification (December 19), he stated, "Currently, there is not even a single needle-eye opening for communication between the two Koreas," and urged the Ministry of Unification, the competent ministry, to proactively and proactively ease hostilities. In fact, the well-known parable of the eye of a needle originates from a New Testament passage in which Jesus says that it is "harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." In the first century, the parable was widely established as an idiom referring to an impossible situation, contrasting the camel, considered the largest animal in Palestine and considered unclean under Jewish law, with the eye of a needle, which means the smallest hole. President Lee Jae-myung, a Christian, is likely familiar with this phrase. The "eye of a needle theory," which underpins the current administration's North Korea policy, embodies a determination not to sit back and watch while facing the difficult and pessimistic reality of the strained inter-Korean relationship.

Will this policy bear fruit? Following the suspension of mutual loudspeaker broadcasts in June of last year, and the recent drone incident that has surfaced, Vice Department Director Kim Yo-jong expressed her acceptance of Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's expression of regret (February 18) on the same day. However, there has been no significant response from the North to the measures taken by the South Korean government, such as the proposal to confirm the life and death of separated families (October 3, 2025), discuss the Military Demarcation Line (November 17, 2025), restore communication channels (December 2, 2025), and the partial restoration of the September 19 Military Agreement (February 18). Although the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea has been in progress since the 19th, there has been no change in the North's position on the two hostile states theory. Some in South Korea are criticizing the current administration's consistent measures toward the North as being cowardly, but this is a reaction that the current administration had already anticipated. In a December interview with foreign media, President Lee acknowledged that what we can do might seem like unilateral conciliatory measures. Nevertheless, preemptive actions toward North Korea, such as halting the military and the National Intelligence Service's broadcasts to North Korea and minimizing military actions that could be misinterpreted, are part of a strategy of piercing the eye of the needle. While silently enduring public criticism, we are ultimately committed to doing everything we can to cooperate with the North Korea-US summit.

A short-term interpretation of the needle's eye metaphor is likely closer to the idea of ​​"opening even a small hole in the tightly sealed inter-Korean barrier," rather than "widening the eye of the needle" enough to accommodate a camel. If the latter is the case, the current inter-Korean relationship is akin to a sealed space, so even opening a couple of holes would create a minimal convection current, allowing for breathing. The absence of significant military conflict between North and South Korea since June of last year may also be an undeniable achievement of the current administration's peaceful coexistence policy. When signals of "no intention to engage in hostilities" are repeatedly sent out, even to the point of seeming excessive, at both the public and private levels, the justification for North Korea's hostile policy toward the South can be weakened and accidental escalation of conflict can be prevented. However, the ultimate goal of inter-Korean relations cannot be limited to a few needle holes. The task of maneuvering the camel visible beyond those gaps is crucial. In short, if the sum of these small needle holes constitutes the procedural and environmental foundation for inter-Korean cooperation, the "camel" can be seen as mutual distrust and hostility (arms buildup). Ultimately, wouldn't the "camel" passing through the "needle hole" mark the institutionalization stage where the value of "peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula" can be realized? Last August, President Lee's three-stage roadmap for North Korea's nuclear and missile programs—freezing, reducing, and finally denuclearizing—and the END Initiative (Exchange (E), Normalization (N), Denuclearization (D)) presented at the UN General Assembly in September serve as a beacon for this seemingly inaccessible "camel."

All eyes are now on the US-China summit scheduled for late March. While the Korean Peninsula issue may not directly address the vital interests of the US and Chinese leaders, the South Korean government needs to position it as an issue worthy of strategic engagement during the bilateral meeting. While there is a trend toward a flexible, realist approach within the US, with the National Security Strategy (NSS) omitting denuclearization, North Korea prioritizes sanctions relief. Whether the two sides can find common ground on the need for negotiations is crucial. However, the recent fallout from the Epstein scandal, the US Supreme Court's tariff block, and the growing scrutiny surrounding the upcoming midterm elections in November could increase the risk of the Trump administration becoming a lame duck, pushing the Korean Peninsula issue further down the priority list. It should be remembered that immediately following the February 2019 North Korea-US Hanoi summit, President Trump attributed the collapse of the summit to the Michael Cohen hearing, which exposed his scandals. Therefore, if the period from the upcoming US-China summit until the US midterm elections is designated as a window of opportunity for dialogue, and if it is to be implemented, it is necessary to explore the next opportunity.

Above all, it is crucial for South Korea to use the US-China summit as an opportunity to create conditions for US-North Korea dialogue and for a swift agreement to adjust the scale of US-ROK joint military exercises. At the same time, recent uneasy sentiments, such as the exposed differences with the UN Command over the DMZ Act and the unprepared confrontation of US fighter jets in the West Sea, must be carefully managed. While the US-China summit is undoubtedly an opportunity to create the international environment necessary for US-North Korea dialogue, tangible results beyond the "No Deal in Hanoi" can only be achieved if North Korea makes a strategic decision following the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea and the US adopts a forward-looking policy toward North Korea. This is the weight of the complex equation that must be resolved for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. As the saying goes,

"Rather than struggling to pass through the eye of a needle that is difficult to penetrate, we must enlarge the eye itself." This is a post by then-Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung on social media, analyzing the Bernie Sanders craze 10 years ago in March 2016. His commitment to addressing structural inequality through national system reform is now valid in the diplomatic arena. I hope the upcoming major event between the G2 will serve as a driving force for the North Korea-US summit, widening the "eye of the needle" toward peaceful coexistence and becoming a decisive turning point that structurally expands the scope of our government's policies.

(This article was originally published as a column in Aju News in Korean and translated into English with the help of Google Translate. The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official stance of the center.)