2 summits raise peace hopes in Korea

OMETIME this week, North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un will meet with South Korea President Moon Jae-In in a historic summit, the first since the end of the Korean War in 1950. The Philippines fought with other United Nations forces, including the United States, on the side of South Korea in that war. It ended with an armistice, but not a peace treaty, so North Korea remains technically at war to this day with the South and all the nations that fought with it. It is hoped that in the coming summit, agreement can be reached that will lead to a peace treaty after all these years.

The North-South summit, however, will serve only as a preliminary event to an even more crucial meeting next month – a summit between Kim Jong-Un and United States President Donald Trump. These two have been exchanging threats of nuclear attack, no less. And the world knows that in a nuclear war, no country on the planet would be safe. For the radioactivity resulting from any nuclear blasts is bound to spread around the globe, carried by the winds, rendering every corner of the world unsuitable for human life.

The world is thus looking forward to the coming meeting Kim-Trump summit. Trump has already sent his incoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to see Kim. The reports from North Korea have all been hopeful ones. It has decided to suspend all missile and nuclear tests. It will seek the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula. It has not made any demand on the US. It has not made any mention of the thousands of US troops now stationed in South Korea, or of the US nuclear umbrella of deterrence protecting South Korea and Japan.

Some officials and public commentators in the US think this seeming readiness to talk peace could be due to the economic pressure the United Nations and the US have steadily applied over the years, depriving North Korea of much of its export income. Or to pressure applied by its foremost ally, China, which would suffer tremendously in any nuclear conflict so near to its borders. Whatever the cause of North Korea’s declared readiness to give up its nuclear arsenal, the world looks forward to the coming Kim-Trump talks for it could mean peace for all.

At one time some years ago, it was said that North Korea, first and foremost, wants respect and recognition as a sovereign nation. There is this peculiarly Asian concern for “face” that could weigh heavier than reason. This concept may well be at work here.

Kim Jong-Un has offered to stop any further nuclear tests, with no word on whether it has already achieved its desired level of nuclear capability. It would be much like the blanket of secrecy over Israel’s nuclear capability. It has never claimed or admitted it, but the world – especially its enemies in the Middle East -- presume it and this has served to preserve peace in that part of the world.

In the coming peace talks between Kim and Trump, it would be best for all concerned, President Trump especially, to keep off any further pressure on Kim on the issue of its nuclear capability. It should be enough that there should be no further threats and counter-threats—and that after nearly 70 years, a peace treaty will finally end the Korean War.