DPRK-US summit a go in Singapore
Talks supported by Foreign Ministry, which hopes for peace on peninsula
Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in confirmed on Sunday the willingness of Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and US President Donald Trump to hold the first-ever DPRK-US summit as scheduled next month.
Moon delivered a nationally televised address at the presidential complex, saying both Kim and Trump “wholeheartedly” wished the success of their summit, originally scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Sunday that China firmly supports the DPRK and US leaders’ willingness to hold the summit, expecting it not only to be held as scheduled but also to successfully bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Lu said China always has believed that direct dialogue between the United States and the DPRK is the key to resolving issues of mutual concern on the Korean Peninsula and the ministry hopes both countries can cherish the recent progress achieved on the peninsula.
On Saturday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he is looking forward to the summit in Singapore. “It hasn’t changed,” Trump said, adding that talks were progressing well.
Trump canceled the scheduled meeting on Thursday, saying that it would not happen “based on the tremendous anger and open hostility” displayed in the DPRK’s most recent statements at that time.
However, he reversed course just one day later. Both sides wanted the meeting to happen and it could still go ahead after productive talks, he said.
Hours earlier, before Trump’s statement calling to continue the summit, the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed his “fixed will” to hold the summit.
Kim made the remarks when having his second meeting with Moon at the truce village Panmunjom on Saturday.
During the Saturday meeting, Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to hold another highlevel talk on Friday that will be followed by inter-Korean military talks to ease tensions and a Red Cross talk to hold the reunion of separated families across the inter-Korean border since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, according to the ROK presidential office.
Lyu Chao, director of the Border Study Institute at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said it should be recognized that the settlement of the nuclear issue is an extremely complicated process.
“It does not happen overnight,” he said, adding that Trump’s course reversal fully demonstrated that the Korean Peninsula issues require more cautious decisions and should not be made impulsively.
Washington’s demand for a “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” is inconsistent with Pyongyang’s intention to achieve denuclearization gradually, said Zheng Jiyong, director of the Korea Research Center at Fudan University, adding that the ideal way to work on the issue is that both parties can “move toward the same goal, make concessions, and show their sincerity”, he said.
On Saturday Kim and Moon also announced that the two leaders would meet frequently in the future to make dialogue brisk and to pool wisdom and efforts, and also promised to further push forward the peace process on the Korean Peninsula by working toward denuclearization and improved inter-Korean ties.
China firmly supports the DPRK and US leaders’ willingness to hold the summit, expecting it not only to be held as scheduled but also to successfully bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.