Trump, Kim should seize historic chance for peace

When Democratic People’s Republic of Korea top leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump met in Hanoi on Wednesday, their broad smiles and warm handshake conveyed the same conviviality they displayed after their head-to-head talks in Singapore eight months ago.

However, the expectations ahead of this meeting have been much higher than they were last June, when the first meeting between the two sitting leaders of the two countries was a historic achievement in itself.

This time both leaders will be hoping to return home with more than just the souvenir photos.

A formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which the DPRK has long sought, would go a long way to addressing Pyongyang’s security concerns, which it has used to justify its nuclear weapons program.

With a security guarantee and incentives, such as sanctions relief and economic assistance, the once isolated country would have no reason not to drop its nuclear weapons program.

Trump, who seems to have adopted a more flexible approach in dealing with Pyongyang, said prior to the Hanoi summit that he would be happy as long as the DPRK commits to “no (nuclear weapons) testing”.

But the US would also like an agreement from Kim that he will agree to dismantle the DPRK’s enrichment facilities and provide access for international experts to verify the dismantling of a rocket launch site and a nuclear testing site.

Of course, the process to make the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free could be a long drawn out one given that the US and the DPRK are yet to fully agree on what “complete denuclearization” means, which makes it difficult for them to agree on how to turn that vision into reality.

And while Washington has been seeking “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearization before it lifts its sanctions on the DPRK, Pyongyang has insisted on a process carried out “stage-bystage” in a “simultaneous way”.

Despite all this, the peace process must never be allowed to stall or be reversed. Peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is the common aspiration of all peace-loving people, and conforms to the interests of all the parties concerned, including China, which has played an indispensable role in maintaining the momentum of engagement between Pyongyang and Washington.

Kim and Trump are on the right track toward realizing the goal of a denuclearized peninsula. The end of the nearly 70-year hostility between the two countries, if realized with a peace deal, would in itself be no small feat, and it will definitely pave the way for more concrete actions taken by the two sides to rid the peninsula of the threat of nuclear war.

All the parties concerned are duty bound to make sure the good momentum continues.