BEIJING, TOKYO AND SEOUL UNITE FOR PEACE IN KOREAN PENINSULA
TOKYO— China, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday set aside their differences and agreed to support multilateral moves to establish peace in the Korean Peninsula.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced the united stand in a rare trilateral summit ahead of looming talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
3 powers
As the three powers met in Tokyo, top US diplomat Mike Pompeo also flew to Pyongyang to discuss the agenda of the US-North Korea that has already been set for an unannounced place and date.
Moon said the three Asian leaders had agreed to endorse the outcome of the looming talks.
“We reached the common recognition that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, (and) the permanent establishment of peace and development of the intra-Korean relations are crucial,” Moon said after the trilateral talks.
“I would like to thank the leaders for welcoming and supporting the Panmunjom Declara- tion,” he added, referring to the communiqué issued after his meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un last month.
At the historic Panmunjom summit less than two weeks ago, Moon and Kim agreed to pursue a permanent peace treaty and also vowed to work toward the “complete denuclearization” of the divided peninsula.
Japan has by far the hardest line of the three countries on North Korea, but has found itself largely watching from the sidelines as the diplomatic frenzy unfolded.
Normalization of relations
After the talks, Abe said he hoped to see the international community press “North Korea to take concrete steps toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and peace and stability in northeast Asia.”
He also once again called for a resolution to the hugely emotive issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea.
“If the issues of abduction and nuclear and missile programs are comprehensively resolved, and if North Korea follows the right path, we will aim for the normalization of relations,” he said.—