By Kim Bo-eun
Likelihood is
growing that President Moon Jae-in will join the leaders of North Korea and the United States following their June 12 summit in Singapore to discuss declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, after U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility.
After his meeting with top North Korean official Kim Yong-chol in Washington, D.C., on Friday (local time), Trump said they "talked about ending the war," and referred to it as "something that could come out of the meeting" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Kim Yong-chol visited the U.S. for talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and to deliver a letter from the North Korean leader to Trump.
Regarding guaranteeing the security of the North Korean regime, Trump said "We're going to make sure it's secure" and that North Korea has "potential to be a great country."
It was the first time the U.S. president mentioned the possibility of declaring an end to the war, although it has been mentioned as a way to guarantee the security of the North Korean regime in exchange for Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons. Hostilities ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Diplomatic relations with the U.S. should precede any possible guarantee of North Korea's regime security. But as this is a process that takes time, the U.S. could first seek to end the Korean War.
Moon's role crucial for successful Singapore summit 2018-06-03 16:53 | North Korea
The Panmunjeom Declaration reached at the inter-Korean summit on April 27 states the Koreas seek three-way talks with the U.S. or four-party talks including China to declare the war's end and establish a lasting peace.
Cheong Wa Dae has maintained Moon's joining the North Korea-U.S. summit will depend on whether the two countries can reach a deal on Pyongyang's denuclearization, saying it will make preparations for if Washington and Pyongyang notify it.
"It appears the road to the North Korea-U.S. summit has grown wider," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said after Trump's meeting with Kim Yong-chol. "We will watch the historical summit to be held in Singapore with expectations, yet in a composed manner."
Based on the current positive mood over the summit, significant process on denuclearization seems to have been reached.
Trump said he expects the summit to be a "successful process," and refrained from using hostile terms such as "maximum pressure" which has for long been the White House's stance on North Korea.
However, some forecast, even if Moon joins Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore, a declaration ending the war could be made at a later point, after the leaders discuss the issue and reach a consensus.
This is backed by Trump's remarks about the bilateral summit, which he said will start a process likely to take some time, rather than producing a one-shot deal.
Speculations are a declaration ending the war could be made on July 27, the anniversary of the armistice treaty's signing in 1953.
Meanwhile, the White House also gave positive evaluations of working-level meetings at the truce village of Panmunjeom between delegations led by North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, who was an ambassador to South Korea and a special envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said "the read-outs from the (working-level) meetings have been positive."
Working-level talks at Panmunjeom, which started on May 27, resumed on Saturday after Trump's meeting with Kim Yong-chol. It seemed the talks had been concluded on May 30, but were extended for what appear to be further discussions.
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