Prosperity if all parties back Korean peace

CO-PROSPERITY of the two Koreas would only be possible when relevant parties, including China, join in the denuclearization and the peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday.

Moon made the remark at a meeting with presidents of 47 local media outlets ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, scheduled for April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom, according to the presidential Blue House.

He said the ultimate goal of coprosperity of the two Koreas, which Seoul and Pyongyang wished to achieve through denuclearization and peace, can only be made possible via the development of DPRK-US and DPRK-Japan relations as well as China’s support and participation.

Moon said it would not be much difficult to reach an agreement, in principle, to the denuclearized Korean Peninsula through the inter-Korean, DPRK-US summits, a peace regime settlement and normalized US-DPRK ties after the denuclearization agreement, and international support for the DPRK’s economic development.

Regarding the issues, the two Koreas and the relevant parties had an experience of reaching an agreement through the six-party talks, called the September 19 joint statement announced in 2005, Moon said.

The six-party dialogue, which involved South Korea, the DPRK, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, has been halted since late 2008.

What would be difficult, Moon said, is how to implement the potential agreements concretely as the relevant parties, especially the DPRK and the US, are required to find and agree on fresh ways of implementation.

Moon said things got very different from situations in 2007 when he prepared for the second inter-Korean summit as chief of staff for then President Roh Moo-hyun, who met in Pyongyang with then DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, father of the current leader.

Citing the highly advanced nuclear and missile technology of the DPRK, Moon said South Korea should first reach an agreement with Pyongyang about its nuclear and missile programs in the inter-Korean summit, which needs to be successfully accepted in the next DPRK-US summit.