Kim, Moon meet in Pyongyang as China vows continuous support
China is an indispensable partner in achieving peace and prosperity goals on the Korean Peninsula, said Chinese analysts as the third inter-Korean summit of the year kicked off Tuesday in Pyongyang, triggering optimism for enhanced economic cooperation on a denuclearized peninsula.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday morning for his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The two leaders greeted each other with a hug and Moon received a warm welcome from senior officials and many people wearing traditional Korean outfits who waited at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport with flowers, North Korean national flags and Korean Peninsula flags. The first round of this inter-Korean summit began at 3:45 pm, Pyongyang time, and lasted two hours. Expectations for the summit could be felt on the
streets of the two countries. A poster with the message “Peace, New Future, Proud Korea” was draped over the facade of a shopping mall in downtown Seoul.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it expects success and positive outcomes from the summit in Pyongyang and will continue to support efforts by the two sides to improve their relations and contribute to long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula.
As a neighbor, China supports contact between North Korea and South Korea, the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and efforts to promote reconciliation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing on Tuesday in Beijing.
Peace and prosperity
Moon and Kim will meet again early Wednesday for a second round of talks and the two leaders may hold a joint press conference in Pyongyang to announce the outcome of their summit.
Moon has an entourage of more than 150, including presidential secretaries, cabinet members, lawmakers, business leaders and representatives of the culture sector.
Business leaders from South Korea’s Samsung Group, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group and LG Group are among the delegation.
Though Seoul will not breach the UN Security Council’s sanctions against Pyongyang, the influential business representatives traveling with Moon are a clear signal that “South Korea is ready to help if the North is ready to disarm nuclear weapons,” Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The two leaders are likely to negotiate possible areas of cooperation outside of the UN Security Council sanctions and discuss terms for reducing or revoking at least part of the sanctions, Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
China’s support is an indispensable part of North Korea’s ambitious economic development plan, Kim Jin-ho, a professor of international relations at South Korea’s Dankook University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
North Korea could draw on and adapt China’s valuable experience in reform and opening-up during the past 40 years, he noted.
The Chinese border city of Dandong could be positioned as a special economic zone to boost cooperation with North Korea, Lü said.
The Korean Peninsula peace process has been on the right track and is highly likely to continue, as both Seoul and Pyongyang share the consensus that the ongoing state of war between them should end as soon as possible, said experts.
Though the reunification of the Korean Peninsula is not likely to happen anytime soon, the expectation of forging a lasting peace should be the mind-set on the peninsula, not worries about war, said Lee.
This week’s summit will also pave the way for another summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in the future, predicted Lee. If Kim reaffirms North Korea’s determination to denuclearize during Moon’s three-day trip, it would be a positive push for the second meeting between Kim and Trump, said Lee.
Meanwhile, Lee said that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome of negotiations on denuclearization.
If there are no talks between North Korea and the US, the process of denuclearization will remain stalled and other breakthroughs will have a limited impact, said Kim of Dankook University.