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| President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hug each other during their surprise second summit at Tongilgak on the North's side of the border village of Panmunjeom, Saturday. Moon said the meeting, held for two hours, was arranged at Kim's request. / Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae |
By Kim Rahn
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's willingness for denuclearization is firm and he hopes his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump will be held as planned and successfully, President Moon Jae-in said Sunday after his surprise second meeting with Kim the previous day.
The leaders of the two Korea agreed that Kim needs to talk directly with Trump to resolve misunderstandings and to successfully make their summit happen, he added.
The two-hour inter-Korean summit on the northern side of Panmunjeom was a surprise as Moon and Kim met secretly and only about a month after the first one, April 27.
Their second meeting came amid a series of rapidly reversing situations where the U.S. decided to cancel the historic Washington-Pyongyang summit slated for June 12 following the North's bellicose rhetoric, and Pyongyang expressed hopes to continue dialogue. Now the U.S. is getting positive about holding the summit again as scheduled.
"Once again Kim clearly showed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, showing willingness to cooperate to end the history of war and confrontation and to establish peace and prosperity by successfully holding the Washington-Pyongyang summit," Moon said in a media briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.
"What is unclear to Kim is not his willingness for denuclearization but whether the U.S. can really end the hostile relations and guarantee regime security after the North gives up its nuclear weapons," Moon said.
"In a recent summit with me, Trump said the denuclearization will not only end hostile relations but also bring the North economic prosperity. I'm delivering their determination to each other and urging them to reconfirm their willingness through direct talks."
Regarding the recent standoff between the U.S. and North Korea over whether to hold the summit, leaders of the two Koreas reaffirmed close cooperation to make it happen.
"Because both Kim and Trump want the success of the summit sincerely, I told Kim about the need for the two leaders to directly communicate to resolve misunderstandings and for sufficient working-level talks in advance over the agenda items to be discussed at the summit. And Kim agreed," Moon said.
Asked whether Pyongyang and Washington share the same view on the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID), Moon said both are aware of what the other wants.
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Moon, Kim vow to 'meet frequently in the future' 2018-05-27 09:30 | North Korea "But although they have the same goal of denuclearization, they need to agree on a roadmap on how to realize it, and they may have difficulty in the process," Moon said.
He said Washington officials started working-level preparation for the summit because they also confirmed Pyongyang's commitment for denuclearization. "If they have something to confirm more, they will do so during the working-level negotiations."
Moon said Seoul had already told Washington about the second meeting with Kim. But he did not say specifically whether it was before the summit of after it.
Asked about any plans to have trilateral hotline talks with Kim and Trump, Moon said a trilateral summit may have to precede such hotline talks. "I hope, if the Washington-Pyongyang summit succeeds, we can hold a trilateral summit and declare the end to the Korean War."
A senior Cheong Wa Dae official also said the two Koreas are having working-level talks over ways to resolve Pyongyang's concerns over regime security, such as Washington and Pyongyang signing a non-aggression treaty, transforming the armistice into a peace treaty, and Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington declaring an end to the war.
"But no agreement has been made about details such as how and when to hold a trilateral summit," he said.
The surprise meeting took place upon Kim's request. The official said National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon and the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee Chairman Kim Yong-chol were talking about follow-up measures to the Panmunjeom Declaration Friday afternoon through their own communication channel.
"During the talk, Kim Yong-chol said Kim Jong-un proposed an informal communication with Moon. So security-related aides here discussed it and told Moon about it, and the President gladly accepted it," the official said.
Moon also said such an abrupt and quick meeting was in line with their earlier promise to meet anytime and anywhere when necessary. "I've stressed regular meetings and direct communication between the leaders of the two Koreas as a means to overcome conflict. In this regard, I'd say this summit, which took place like a daily meeting of two friends, was as important as the historic first summit."
The two Koreas disclosed what the leaders discussed a day after the meeting, as Kim requested so because North Korean media could not report it immediately, Moon said.
Accordingly, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported the second inter-Korean summit Sunday, saying Kim showed his firm determination to hold a summit with Trump. It also said the Washington-Pyongyang summit was due on June 12, the first time for a North Korean media to disclose the date to its public.
The two leaders also agreed to hold a high-level inter-Korean meeting June 1. The meeting, which was initially slated for May 16, was cancelled at the time because the North refused to attend citing South Korea-U.S. joint air force drills.
They also decided to hold military talks and Red Cross talks for a reunion of families separated by the Korean War.
The White House did not immediately release a response to the second Moon-Kim summit. But Trump told reporters and wrote on his Twitter Saturday and Sunday that Washington and Pyongyang were having good talks about the Trump-Kim summit, indicating it could be held in Singapore on June 12 as initially planned. Considering Seoul told Washington about the Moon-Kim meeting Saturday, Trump's comments may be in response to it.
China's foreign ministry welcomed the result of the second summit and expressed hopes for more efforts between the two Koreas for reconciliation. "We think person-to-person dialogue between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. is the key to solving problems," ministry spokesman Lu Kang told Yonhap News Agency. "China will continue to play an active, constructive role in Korean Peninsula issue."
