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Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong responds to questions during an audit of the Presidential Secretariat by the National Assembly’s Steering Committee on Nov. 6 (Yonhap News)

“We are deliberating with related countries to make an end-of-war declaration possible within the year,” Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong said on Nov. 6. Since Chung also said that the door is still open to having working-level officials bring the Korean War to a formal end, the next issue is whether the war will actually be declared over before the end of 2018.

When Chung attended the audit of the Presidential Secretariat, the National Security Office and the Presidential Security Service by the National Assembly’s Steering Committee on Tuesday, he was asked by Rep. Park Gyeong-mi whether it was still the government’s goal to hold an end-of-war declaration within the year.

“We are currently deliberating with related countries to make an end-of-war declaration possible, just as was promised [by the leaders of South and North Korea],” Chung said in response.

When Chung was asked whether an end-of-war declaration could also be made on the working level, and not only by the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the US, Chung said, “We are also quite open-minded about the format. A number of plans are possible.”

The Blue House had previously declined to comment on the possibility of reaching a breakthrough on an end-of-war-agreement at the working level, rather than between the leaders, and this was the first time that a high-level official in the Blue House has mentioned a “working-level end-of-war declaration.” South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed in their Apr. 27 Panmunjom Declaration to officially end the war within the year, but they did not stipulate that the end-of-war declaration would have to be made by national leaders.

Chung’s remarks about a working-level end-of-war declaration are presumed to signal that Seoul has opted for a gradual approach, given the decreasing likelihood of the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the US taking part in an end-of-war declaration before the end of the year, following the effective postponement of the North Korea-US summit until early next year.

“An end-of-war declaration by the leaders would be the ideal option, but since that’s impractical under the circumstances, they appear to be considering other options and keeping open a number of possibilities,” said a high-level official at the Blue House.

“At any rate, an end-of-war declaration is largely a political declaration. Even if the leaders don’t take part, South Korea, North Korea and the US could still show that they are making gradual progress by having working-level officials or even military officials make an end-of-war declaration,” said another senior official.

This can also be interpreted as a plan to use a working-level end-of-war declaration to provide a rationale for North Korea to denuclearize and to create momentum for the second North Korea-US summit. Furthermore, the armistice agreement that was concluded on July 27, 1953, was in fact signed by military officials – Kim Il-sung, supreme commander of the Korean People’s Amy (KPA); Mark Clark, commander of UN forces; and Peng Dehuai, commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.

By Seong Yeon-cheol and Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporters

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