Moon seeks heart- to- heart summit dialogue with Kim
South Korean President Moon Jae- in said on Monday that he would push for “irreversible, permanent peace,” and for better dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, during “heart- to- heart” talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong- un this week. His chief of staff, however, played down the chance that Mr Moon’s summit with Mr Kim will produce major progress in nuclear diplomacy.
Mr Moon flies to Pyongyang on Tuesday for his third summit of the year with Kim. This one comes as global diplomatic efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear programme have stalled and questions have been raised about how serious Mr Kim is about following through with his vague commitments to denuclearise.
“I aim to have lots of heart- to- heart talks with Chairman Kim Jong- un,” Mr Moon said during a meeting with top advisers, according to his office. “What I want to achieve is peace. I mean irreversible, permanent peace that is not shaken by international politics.”
To achieve such a peace, Mr Moon said that he would focus during the summit on easing a decades- long military standoff between the Koreas and promoting a North Korea- US dialogue on denuclearisation issues. Mr Moon said that he wants “to find a middle ground between a US request for ( North Korea’s) denuclearisation and the North’s request for corresponding measures such as ending hostile relations and security assurances.”
During a June summit between Mr Kim and President Donald Trump, the North Korean leader expressed his commitment to denuclearisation while Mr Trump promised to provide him with security guarantees and announced the suspension of major military drills with South Korea.
North Korea has long maintained that its nuclear programme is aimed at coping with what it calls US military threats. North Korea is pushing for a peace treaty with the United States to formally end the 1950- 53 Korean War. It also wants the lifting of US- led sanctions.
North Korea has taken some steps, like dismantling its nuclear and rocketengine testing sites, but US officials have said that it must take more serious disarmament steps before receiving outside concessions.