Officials meet in Pyongyang over summit
North and S. Koreans talk to rescue nuke diplomacy with US
SEOUL: A South Korean presidential delegation met with North Korean officials for talks to arrange a summit planned later this month and help rescue faltering nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.
The envoys began their trip with a short meeting with senior North Korean officials Kim Yongchol, a former spy chief who has been negotiating with the United States on nuclear issues, and Ri Songwon, chairman of the North’s agency that handles interKorean affairs, at Pyongyang’s Koryo hotel.
They later moved to a different location for more talks, but it was unclear whether the South Korean officials will get to meet North Korean leader Kim Jongun before flying back to the South later yesterday, according to the office of South Korean President Moon Jaein.
Moon’s office said the delegation led by his national security adviser will be carrying a personal letter for Kim. Moon said the envoys are tasked with a crucial role at a “very important time” that could determine the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
While pushing ahead with summits and interKorean engagement, Seoul is trying to persuade Washington and Pyongyang to proceed with peace and denuclearisation processes at the same time so they can overcome a growing dispute over the sequencing of the diplomacy.
Seoul also wants a trilateral summit between the countries, or a fournation meeting that also includes Beijing, to declare a formal end to the 195053 Korean War.
The UN General Assembly in late September would be an ideal date for Seoul, but many analysts see that possibility as low, considering the complications of the process and how far apart the parties currently are.
US officials have insisted that a peace declaration, which many see as a precursor to the North eventually calling for the removal of all US troops from the Korean Peninsula, cannot come before North Korea takes more concrete action towards abandoning its nukes.
Such steps may include providing an account of the components of its nuclear programme, allowing outside inspections and giving up a certain number of its nuclear weapons during the early stages of the negotiations.
While an endofwar declaration wouldn’t imply a legallybinding peace treaty, experts say it could create political momentum that would make it easier for the North to steer the discussions towards a peace regime, diplomatic recognition, economic benefits and security concessions.
The North has accused the United States of making “unilateral and gangsterlike” demands on denuclearisation and holding back on the endofwar declaration.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday published a lengthy statement on its website saying that an endofwar declaration would be a necessary trustbuilding step between the wartime foes that would “manifest the political will to establish the lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula”.