[Moon said Kim also told him that the closure of a nuclear weapons test site at Punggye-ri could be subject to international verification as well. He said he would discuss with Trump his and Kim’s goal of formally declaring an end to the Korean War by the end of this year.]
By
Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim
 |
|
North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited
Sept.
20 Mount Paektu, the mystical birthplace of the first ruler of Korea.
(Associated
Press)
|
Moon was speaking on his return to Seoul
after a three-day meeting with Kim in Pyongyang.
At the talks, Kim promised to allow external
inspectors into his country to verify that a missile test and launch site had
been permanently dismantled, and he pledged to permanently disable an important
nuclear site if the United States also takes “corresponding steps.”
The next possible moves by Washington remain
unclear. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States
was “prepared to engage immediately” with North Korea to move dialogue ahead.
Moon said Kim also wanted Pompeo to come to
North Korea.
“Chairman Kim Jong Un said he wants Secretary
Pompeo’s North Korea visit and a second summit with President Trump to happen
at the earliest convenience in order to speed up the denuclearization process,”
Moon told reporters.
Moon said Kim also told him that the closure
of a nuclear weapons test site at Punggye-ri could be subject to international
verification as well. He said he would discuss with Trump his and Kim’s goal of
formally declaring an end to the Korean War by the end of this year.
Moon’s optimism about engagement with Kim
contrasts with more cautious assessments among foreign observers of the regime.
Very few of these experts believe Kim is
willing to surrender his entire nuclear arsenal, although some think he might
be prepared to reduce it in return for economic benefits and guarantees that
his regime will not be threatened.
U.S. intelligence officials, meanwhile,
believe the Kim regime has stepped up the production of nuclear fuel at several
secret sites this year, according to an NBC News report in June. If true, that
would seriously undermine the significance of the concessions Kim is offering.
[North Korea’s Kim offers to dismantle nuke
site but only after U.S. acts]
Moon noted that Trump and Kim both made
pledges at their June summit in Singapore. North Korea promised to take steps
toward complete denuclearization and returning the remains of U.S. service
members killed in the war, while the United States pledged to “end hostilities,
guarantee the security of the regime and establish a new relationship with
North Korea,” he said.
“Such measures should be taken in a balanced
manner between North Korea and the United States,” Moon said. Speaking of the
need for North Korea to take denuclearization measures, he said that “the U.S.
should accordingly take corresponding measures to guarantee the security of
North Korea step by step.”
When asked what the corresponding measures
would be, Moon said that needs to be discussed between North Korea and the
United States.
Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea expert at
the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said the announcement shows that Kim has much
more specific ideas now about denuclearization and what he wants in return. He
added that the next summit should produce more specific results.
“The first meeting between Kim Jong Un and
Trump yielded a rather general agreement, but now Kim seems to have a more
concrete idea about what he wants to exchange with Trump,” Cheong said. “Given
how Kim recently suggested a specific timetable for denuclearization, a more
concrete agreement than the one in Singapore is expected to come out in the
next summit.”
The Korean War ended in 1953 with an
armistice rather than a peace treaty. North Korea wants South Korea and the
United States to declare the war to be formally over, as a sign that
hostilities have ended and to build trust.
“North Korea expressed their willingness to
speed up their denuclearization actions if [the United States] takes actions to
form a new U.S.-North Korea relationship,” Moon said.
Members of Trump’s administration are
concerned that such a declaration could be used to undermine the justification
for the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea, politically if not legally.
Kim reported from Seoul.
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