Moon to carry private message from Kim Jong Un to Trump
A SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — beaming South Korean President Moon Jae-in, freshly returned home Thursday from a whirlwind three-day summit with Kim Jong Un, said the North Korean leader wants the U.S. secretary of state to visit Pyongyang soon for nuclear talks, and also hopes for a quick follow-up to his June summit with President Donald Trump.
Only hours after standing with Kim on the peak of a volcano that’s at the heart of Kim dynasty propaganda, Moon told reporters in Seoul that he will be carrying a private message from Kim to Trump about the nuclear standoff when he meets the U.S. president in New York next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session.
Both Trump, who has repeatedly spoken of his good relationship with Kim, and the North Korean leader have expressed a desire to follow up on the June meeting in Singapore that was meant to settle an impasse that seemed to be edging toward war last year. But there are worries among observers about whether Kim is as committed to denuclearization as he claims.
Moon faces increasing pressure from Washington to find a path forward in efforts to get Kim to completely — and unilaterally — abandon his nuclear arsenal, which is thought to be closing in on the ability to accurately target any part of the continental United States.
“There are things that the United States wants us to convey to North Korea, and on the other side there are also things that North Korea wants us to convey to the United States,” Moon said at a press center in Seoul where reporters had watched parts of his summit with Kim on huge video screens that occasionally showed live streams from Pyongyang. “I will faithfully serve that role when I meet President Trump to facilitate dialogue between North Korea and the United States.”
Earlier Thursday, Kim and Moon took to the road for the final day of their summit, hiking to the peak of Mount Paektu, which is considered sacred in the North, their hands clasped and raised in a pose of triumph. Their trip to the mountain on the North Korean-Chinese border, and the striking photo-op that will resonate in both Koreas, followed the announcement of wide-ranging agreements on Wednesday that they trumpeted as a major step toward peace.
However, their premier accord on the issue that most worries the world — the North’s pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles — contained a big condition: Kim stated that he would permanently dismantle North Korea’s main nuclear facility only if the United States takes unspecified corresponding measures.
“Chairman Kim Jong Un has again and again affirmed his commitment to denuclearization,” Moon said after returning to Seoul. “He expressed his wish to finish a complete denuclearization as soon as possible and focus on economic development.”
Moon said North Korea’s agreement to allow international experts to observe a “permanent” dismantling of a missile engine test site and launch pad was the same thing as a commitment to “verifiably and irreversibly” demolish those facilities.
Moon says such steps, combined with North Korea’s unilateral but unverified dismantling of a nuclear testing ground earlier this year, would prevent the North from advancing its weaponry through further nuclear and missile tests. Experts say the destruction of the missile engine test site and launch pad wouldn’t represent a material step in the denuclearization of North Korea, which declared its nuclear force complete last year and has designed its most powerful missiles to be fired from vehicles.
Moon also said that Kim hoped to visit Seoul soon.
“I wish there would be an opportunity for my fellow citizens to see Chairman Kim Jong Un for themselves and hear him talking about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, peace and prosperity with his own voice,” the South Korean president said.