Korean leaders’ historic border walk
SOUTH KOREA: With a single step over a weathered, cracked slab of concrete, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history yesterday by crossing over the world’s most heavily armed border to greet South Korean President Moon Jae In for talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Kim then invited Moon to cross briefly back into the north with him before they returned to the southern side.
Those small steps must be seen in the context of the past year – when the United States, its ally South Korea and the North seemed at times to be on the verge of nuclear war as the North unleashed a torrent of weapons tests – but also in light of the long, destructive history of the rival Koreas, who fought one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts and even today occupy a divided peninsula still technically in a state of war.
Both leaders smiled broadly as Moon grasped Kim’s hand and led him along a blindingly red carpet into South Korean territory, where schoolchildren gave Kim flowers and an honour guard stood at attention for inspection, with a military band playing traditional Korean folk songs beloved by both Koreas and the South Korean equivalent of Hail to the Chief.
It was the first time a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had crossed over to the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone since the Korean War ended in 1953.
Beyond the carefully choreographed surface, however, it is still not clear whether the leaders can make any progress in closed-door talks on the nuclear issue, which has bedevilled US and South Korean officials for decades.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests last year are likely to have put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power. North Korea claims it has already risen to that level.
North Korea’s state news agency said Kim would ‘‘openheartedly’’ discuss with Moon ‘‘all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula’’ during a ‘‘historic’’ summit.
The greeting of the two leaders was planned to the last detail. Thousands of journalists were kept in a huge conference centre well away from the summit, except for a small group of pool reporters at the border.
Moon stood near the Koreas’ dividing line, moving forward the moment he glimpsed Kim, dressed in a dark, Mao-style suit, appearing in front of a building on the northern side. They shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South, and after he did so, Kim invited Moon back into the North. They then took a ceremonial photo facing the North, and another photo facing the South.
Two fifth-grade pupils from the Daesongdong Elementary School, the only South Korean school within the DMZ, greeted the leaders and gave Kim flowers. Kim and Moon then saluted the honour guard and military band, and Moon introduced Kim to South Korean government officials. Kim returned the favour with the North Korean officials accompanying him.
The leaders then took a photo inside the Peace House, where the summit was to take place, in front of a painting of South Korea’s Bukhan Mountain, which towers over the South Korean Blue House presidential mansion.
Nuclear weapons were at the top of the agenda, and the summit is the clearest sign yet of whether it is possible to peacefully negotiate those weapons away from a country that has spent decades doggedly building its bombs despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international opprobrium.
Expectations are generally low, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith. Sceptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions – giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.
Advocates of engagement say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas are trying now: sit down and see what is possible.
The White House said in a statement it was ‘‘hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula. . . . [and] looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for the planned meeting between President Donald J Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks’’.
Moon, a liberal whose election last year ended a decade of conservative rule in Seoul, will be looking to make some headway on the North’s nuclear programme in advance of a planned summit in several weeks between Kim and Trump.
Kim, the third member of his family to rule his nation with absolute power, is eager, both at this meeting and the Trump talks, to talk about the nearly 30,000 heavily armed US troops stationed in South Korea and the lack of a formal peace treaty ending the Korean War – two factors the North says make its nuclear weapons necessary.
North Korea may also be looking to use whatever happens in the talks with Moon to set up the Trump summit, which it may see as a way to legitimise its declared status as a nuclear power.
One possible outcome, aside from a rise in general goodwill between the countries, could be a proposal for a North Korean freeze of its weapons ahead of later denuclearisation.
Seoul and Washington will be pushing for any freeze to be accompanied by rigorous and unfettered outside inspections of the North’s nuclear facilities, since past deals have crumbled because of North Korea’s unwillingness to open up to foreigners.
South Korea, in announcing some details of the leaders’ meeting, acknowledged that the most difficult sticking point between the Koreas has been North Korea’s level of denuclearisation commitment. Kim has reportedly said that he would not need nuclear weapons if his government’s security could be guaranteed and external threats were removed.
Whatever the Koreas announce, the spectacle of Kim being feted on South Korean soil has been something to behold. Kim and Moon enjoyed each other’s company in the jointly controlled village of Panmunjom near the spot where a defecting North Korean soldier recently fled south in a hail of bullets fired by his former comrades. – AP