S.Korea’s PM says Korean Peninsula’s complete denuclearization enters initial stage

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Friday that the Korean Peninsula’s complete denuclearization has just entered an initial stage though the path toward peace could face many difficulties.

Lee said at a peace forum in Seoul that complete denuclearization and peace settlement on the peninsula, confirmed at the summits between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the US, have just entered an initial stage.

He said that the path toward the peninsula’s peace could face difficulties several times going forward, expressing worry that every time it faces difficulties, the press could show impatience and provoke public anxiety as seen in the past.

Regarding the tug-of-war in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington over the denuclearization process, controversy and skepticism emerged especially from local and US media outlets.

Despite any difficulty, the prime minister said that the two Koreas must not, and would never, return to the past in which the two sides worried about war and faced endless confrontations.

Lee said more wisdom, courage and patience will be required going forward in the path to the denuclearization.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday again signaled optimism about efforts to end the nuclear standoff with North Korea, as he took the extraordinary diplomatic step of tweeting out a letter from North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un.

The four-paragraph letter – an upbeat missive in which Kim voices hope in a new future and speaks of his invariable trust in Trump – is dated July 6, the day Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in North Korea for what turned out to be acrimonious talks with the North.

“A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea,” Trump tweeted alongside a copy of the letter.

“Great progress being made!”