Summit paves way for reconciliation

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, taking the first step towards a peacefully denuclearised Korean Peninsula. The first summit between a sitting US president and North Korean leader since the division of Korea in 1948 raised hope for a new era of reconciliation between the two countries.

The summit fell short of expectations of a road map for denuclearisation, but the issue of dismantling the North Korean nuclear programme and assuring the security of its regime — two key agenda items of the summit — are as difficult to solve as a tangled knot. The summit in Singapore is just a beginning. The North Korean nuclear issue cannot be solved at a single stroke.

Difficult as it may be for now to prejudge follow-up contacts, working negotiations are likely to face rough going in such stages as the inspection and verification of nuclear materials and sites. Until the denuclearisation process is completed, both Pyongyang and Washington must stick to sincere efforts to keep their pledges, while related countries must keep co-operating with them.

What matters most in doing so is to build and maintain mutual confidence. The starting point is to have frequent contacts. Here, the South Korean government’s role between the North and the US will be important.

Kim’s denuclearisation commitment will be tested by the concrete actions he takes. Pyongyang must declare its nuclear capability frankly, accept inspections of both declared and undeclared sites readily and disable its nuclear technology irretrievably.

If the North starts to fulfil its denuclearisation pledge, the US must not be stingy in taking steps to assure its regime security. However, the US and international community should not act rashly regarding the lifting of sanctions. Sanctions are the leverage to prod Pyongyang to take quick actions to dismantle its arsenal of nuclear weapons. London, June 12