Moon to act as envoy between Kim, Trump
Both sides looking to S. Korean leader on denuclearization issue
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Moon Jae-in, freshly returned home Thursday from a 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 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. “I will faithfully serve that role when I meet President Trump to facilitate dialogue between North Korea and the United States.”
Moon, who set up the Singapore summit and is eager for another to happen, also told reporters that he’ll convey to Trump his and Kim’s desire to get a declaration on ending the Korean War by the end of this year. The war still technically continues because it ended in 1953 with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. An end-of-war declaration would be the first step toward an eventual formal peace treaty, but the United States is wary about signing off on something that could result in Kim pushing for the removal of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to deter the North.
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 KoreanChinese 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 North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, left, with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, on top of Mount Paektu in North Korea on Thursday. 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 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.
Earlier in the day, the leaders smiled broadly as they posed at the summit of Paektu, their wives grinning at their sides. They also toured the shores of the lake, where Moon and his wife filled bottles with its water and a South Korean pop singer delivered for the leaders a rendition of a beloved Korean folk song, “Arirang,” which is used in both Koreas as an unofficial anthem for peace.
The mountain is important to the Kim family, members of which are referred to as sharing the “Paektu bloodline,” and the volcano is emblazoned on North Korea’s national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations.