"Bald Head, Bastard, Hey!"... Harsh Words Exchanged During Early 1990s Inter-Korean Nuclear Talks

"Who in the world discusses the nuclear issue without even knowing whether or not there are nuclear weapons?"

It has come to light that, during the inter-Korean nuclear negotiations held between 1991 and 1992, not only were such harsh remarks exchanged, but also personal attacks aimed at the appearance of the opposing delegation members. These biting comments and intense confrontations became especially pronounced not at the initial stages of the inter-Korean meetings, but during the 1992 representative contacts, when detailed clause coordination was underway.

First Representative Contact for 'Nuclear Issue' Consultation (December 26, 1991). Yonhap News Agency

According to the minutes of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission meetings related to the implementation of the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula from 1991 to 1993, which were released by the Ministry of Unification on June 30, both sides' initial drafts of the denuclearization declaration, their respective proposals for mutual inspections, amendments suggested during negotiations, and records of the talks are included. This release of inter-Korean meeting documents comprises a total of 3,836 pages, corresponding to parts of Volume 14 and Volumes 17 to 20 of the "Records of Inter-Korean Dialogue."

At the time, the two Koreas attempted a total of 32 rounds of nuclear negotiations, including representative contacts, regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, but only 22 actual meetings were held. Despite dozens of dialogues in a short period, deep mutual distrust led to what is now regarded as the most heated and harsh language in the history of inter-Korean talks. Jeong Seung-hoon, former head of the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters and preliminary review committee chair for the release of meeting documents, commented, "It was the roughest and most intense negotiation among all inter-Korean dialogues," adding, "You can see insults and profanities in the minutes." An official from the Ministry of Unification diagnosed, "It was highly unusual for the two Koreas to hold dozens of discussions on the nuclear issue at the time," and explained, "The North's uncompromising stance and delaying tactics, as well as a lack of negotiation leverage on our side, resulted in limited progress."

During the negotiations, the South demanded an effective system of mutual inspections, insisting on unrestricted inspections covering all civilian and military facilities. Regarding this, Jeong explained, "Strong leverage was needed to push through the South's position."

In contrast, the North maintained a position of separating the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections from inter-Korean mutual inspections and continued to raise the issue of U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea. Park Yonghan, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) who participated as a review committee member, analyzed, "The North tried to highlight and raise issues with the nuclear weapons deployed by U.S. forces in South Korea," adding, "They intended to resolve matters with the IAEA separately from us."

As the negotiations dragged on, the atmosphere in the talks grew more heated. During the sixth representative contact in March 1992, South Korean delegate Lim Dongwon demanded a time limit on inspections from North Korea and, banging on the table toward Ambassador-at-Large Choi Woojin, said, "Who in the world discusses the nuclear issue without even knowing whether or not there are nuclear weapons?" The North responded, "Hey! Why are you banging on the table!"

From October 1992, near the end of the negotiations, the issue of resuming Team Spirit, the joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, emerged as a major point of contention. The South proposed mutual demonstration inspections, but the North insisted that Team Spirit was a drill simulating a nuclear attack and demanded its suspension as a precondition. Park commented, "The North was extremely sensitive to the issue of resuming Team Spirit," and added, "The exercise was initially suspended, not abolished, and when no meaningful progress was made in subsequent denuclearization talks, it resumed in 1993."

At the 13th meeting in December 1992, there was even a commotion over a photograph featuring portraits of Stalin and Kim Il Sung together. When North Korea criticized the South Korean government, insisting on a principle of resolving issues between the two parties, Chairman Gong Ro-myeong handed over a South Korean newspaper featuring the photo, implying North Korea had colluded with the Soviet Union to start the Korean War. In response, North Korean representative Choi Woojin said, "Take that away," and tore up the photo without even looking at it. Gong protested, "Why tear it up? It's a photo of your great leader!" The North replied, "This is a complete provocation today," to which the South retorted, "The provocation has already been recorded."

There were also remarks targeting the appearance of the opposing side. At the sixth meeting held in June of the same year, North Korean representative Choi Woojin made a derogatory comment to Chairman Gong Ro-myeong of the Joint Nuclear Control Commission, saying, "Chairman Gong doesn't have much hair—if you go out without a hat and get exposed to the sun, it's not good for your health."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.