Nations urged to work together for peace
The United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should adhere to the spirit of the Singapore summit and move in the same direction in order to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, an expert said.
The two countries should abide by their promises and continue to make positive contributions rather than increase the uncertainty of the situation, said Jia Xiudong, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. He made the remarks after US President Donald Trump declared earlier that he would maintain longstanding economic restrictions on the DPRK.
Trump renewed sanctions on the DPRK on Friday, citing an “extraordinary threat” to US national security from its nuclear weapons — just 10 days after saying there was no risk from Pyongyang.
In an executive order, Trump extended the national emergency due to “the existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies” of the DPRK.
Harsh economic restrictions, including the freezing of any assets in the US, will continue for one year under the order.
Trump made the decisions despite the recent historic summit with DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un earlier this month, at which both sides agreeing to peacefully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders met on June 12 in Singapore and signed a joint statement, promising to build new bilateral relations and work toward a “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after the summit that sanctions against Pyongyang would remain in place as negotiations continue, while media reported that Trump agreed to “lift sanctions” as relations progress.
On Sunday, the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency called for the faithful implementation of the Trump-Kim summit agreement in a report, as Pyongyang set to repatriate the remains of US troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, which was part of the June 12 agreement.
The Republic of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that the US military on Sunday had moved 100 wooden “temporary transit cases” to the ROKDPRK border to receive the remains of the soldiers.
Earlier this month, Russia called for easing sanctions imposed on the DPRK after Pyongyang agreed to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying that easing sanctions could become a serious factor contributing to a political and diplomatic settlement in northeastern Asia.
“A modification of the regime of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on the DPRK can, and should be, one of the most important components of normalization in the region,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
Zakharova said Russia also wanted the unilateral sanctions imposed on top of the UN bans to be lifted as well.
The UN Security Council imposed a series of economic sanctions against the DPRK after the latter conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. In addition, several countries, including the US, have imposed more sanctions of their own.
The international community has made constant efforts to promote peace on the peninsula, and the US and the DPRK should cherish the current progress, the Chinese expert said. He added that sanctions are the means, not the purpose, and the realization of permanent peace requires more peaceful dialogue between the two sides.