Kim, Trump reach agreement on denuclearization, safety guarantee

KIM Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, agreed yesterday with US President Donald Trump to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees.

Kim and Trump signed a joint statement after their meeting — the first between a sitting US president and a DPRK leader — at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa.

In the joint statement, Trump committed to providing security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

After the historic meeting, Trump also said that the United States will stop holding war games with South Korea.

The two leaders conducted a “comprehensive, in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions” on issues related to the establishment of a new DPRKUS relationship and building a lasting and robust peace regime on the peninsula, the joint statement said.

Mutual confidence

The statement said the two leaders are convinced that the establishment of new DPRKUS relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and the world, and recognize that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the peninsula. Pyongyang and Washington will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula, according to the joint statement.

Reaffirming the Panmunjom Declaration, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim signed after the third inter-Korean summit on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom, the DPRK agreed to commit to working toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it added.

Pyongyang and Washington also agreed to commit to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action during the 1950-53 Korean War, including an immediate repatriation of those already identified.