S. Korea welcomes talks’ revival
Seoul’s message notes calm excitement for ‘historic’ summit
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea breathed a sigh of relief Saturday after the White House revived plans for a landmark summit with North Korea that already has created new openings between Seoul and Kim Jong Un’s regime.
A statement from South Korea’s presidential Blue House said, “The road to a summit between North Korea and the United States appears to have expanded and strengthened” after a top envoy for Kim met Friday with President Donald Trump in Washington and hand-delivered a letter from the North Korean leader.
“We will excitedly, but calmly, look forward to their historic meeting in Singapore,” said a spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The South Korean reaction is also notable for what it
leaves out.
South Korea has been cautious not to set clear expectations for the planned June 12 summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim. There are too many potential pitfalls, chiefly how far the North is willing to go in making concessions over its nuclear program in exchange for a possible easing of economic sanctions and other incentives from the United States and its allies, such as South Korea.
Moon has staked his political credibility on being a key broker between Kim and the Trump administration. After Trump said May 24 that he was canceling the summit, the South Korean president’s outreach included a hastily arranged face-toface meeting with Kim.
In the past few days, envoys from both sides of the divided peninsula have agreed to goodwill gestures. Military talks are planned for June 14 in the truce village of Panmunjom, and discussions on holding reunions for families separated by the Korean War more than 60 years ago are set for June 22 in the North’s Mount Kumgang resort.
At a gathering of defense chiefs Saturday in Singapore, South Korea’s defense minister, Song Young-moo, also planned to emphasize the South’s peace efforts to an audience that included Defense Secretary James Mattis and military officials from China, which is deeply involved in North Korea as the country’s chief economic lifeline.
A statement released Saturday by the North Korean state news agency said North Korea will push for all sanctions to be lifted and to “abolish hostile policies” by the United States toward North Korea.
“We must fight against hostile acts by the United States and stop the sanctions the United States is imposing under the disguise of the United Nations, and take immediate steps to reach a peace treaty,” the statement from the Korean Central News Agency said.
“We must end the U.S. intervention and interference on the unification and unity of our people forever,” it said.
Contrasting messages have emerged from the North in recent days in the scramble to save the summit.
After talks with a South Korean team, the North’s chief negotiator, Ri Son Gwon, described both nations as “the wheels that move the cart forward” toward peace, according to the South’s official Yonhap News Agency.
On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim complained to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, about “U.S. hegemonism” and suggested he wanted to expand ties with Moscow as a buffer against Washington.
On Friday, China welcomed the prospect of greater Russian involvement in North Korea.
“It plays an important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region and advocates a peaceful and diplomatic solution of the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.
Any hints of greater cooperation between Kim’s regime and Moscow could set off alarms in the Trump administration and create new obstacles to the planned summit.
DISARMAMENT OBSTACLES
The dispute over the shape, scope and speed of a potential disarmament arguably poses the biggest obstacle to a successful summit.
Most experts say Pyongyang wants to be recognized as a full-fledged nuclear power with the weapons it has, but with global obligations, much as communist China’s nuclear arms program ultimately was accepted after President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972.
The broad parameters of a potential deal are well-established. The U.S. side wants North Korea to give up the estimated 20 to 60 nuclear weapons that it has built, and the infrastructure that created them, and presumably the ballistic missiles that can hurl them across the Pacific.
In exchange, Trump can offer U.S. security guarantees for the regime in Pyongyang, better relations with Washington and its allies in Japan and South Korea and the easing of international economic sanctions that have strangled North Korea’s ability to trade with the outside world. Trump has signaled that he won’t offer financial aid, though he has suggested he would ask Asian allies to do so.
Whether that’s enough — or whether North Korea is really prepared to give up a weapons program that has consumed much of the impoverished country’s energy and resources for decades — remains to be seen.
The Trump-Kim summit is further complicated by the competing interests of other nations.
Japan and South Korea both depend on U.S. guarantees of a nuclear response, if needed, if they are attacked. Any move to rescind that promise or withdraw U.S. troops could upset the alliances and lead to a regional nuclear arms race.
China, North Korea’s closest ally, worries that Washington could gain an upper hand in a region where Beijing has exerted growing influence.
Mattis, at the Singapore defense conference, said Trump will not discuss any possible reductions in U.S. troop levels in South Korea at the summit with Kim.
Mattis said such talks could be held later with South Korea if the summit makes progress, in Washington’s view.
In Seoul, however, about two dozen protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, calling for a permanent end to U.S. military exercises and a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea.
Trump is taking a “twotrack” approach toward North Korea, the protesters said. Despite Trump’s willingness to meet with Kim, the United States continues to hold military drills with South Korea, they said.
“This is the time to pursue peace,” one protester demanded through a megaphone, “but the United States continues to pursue military exercises.”
The Japanese government, meanwhile, essentially welcomed Trump’s announcement that the summit will move forward, with a senior Foreign Ministry official saying, “It could possibly become a step forward for North Korea’s complete nuclear abandonment.”
Japan intends to dispatch Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, to Singapore where the summit will be held to collect related information on the sidelines of the meeting, according to sources.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in his address to a meeting of the Shiga prefectural chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Otsu, mentioned a planned meeting Thursday with Trump in Washington.
“We’ll do our utmost so that it will become a historic U.S.-North Korea summit that promotes issues of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea.”
There are cautious opinions within the government that Trump may become too eager regarding dialogue with North Korea and ease U.S. pressure on Pyongyang.
A senior Japanese government official said emphatically on Saturday, “There is no change in our policy to continue applying pressure until North Korea takes concrete steps toward denuclearization.”
There was no immediate Chinese reaction after the announcement that summit plans were back in motion. Beijing has previously signaled, however, that it wanted the summit to go ahead.
Though the official response from China’s Foreign Ministry has been restrained, the Communist Party-controlled press has been critical of the U.S. side for the unpredictability of the past few months — both on trade and North Korea.
“The on-off-on roller-coaster has exposed a shocking lack of seriousness and preparedness on the U.S. side, particularly on Trump’s part, as to how to seize such a rare opportunity to ease the tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” wrote Chen Weihua, Washington correspondent for China Daily, in an English-language opinion piece.
Last week, the Global Times, a Party-controlled newspaper known for its strident nationalism, ran a piece headlined: “Waffling on summit dents U.S. image.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s defense secretary said Saturday that his country’s military will continue monitoring North Korean vessels suspected of carrying prohibited goods as it is “vitally important” that his country helps enforce international sanctions.
Speaking on the sidelines of an international security conference in Singapore, Gavin Williamson said the “prosperity and security” of the region is important for Britain’s own security.
British warships have been deployed in waters near Japan to police U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
“We’ll do our utmost so that it will become a historic U.S.-North Korea summit that promotes issues of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea.” — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe