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Jeju Island is being mentioned as a possible location for the historic North Korea-US summit (Hankyoreh Archive)

After US President Donald Trump accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s proposal for dialogue on Mar. 8, the next question is where the historic North Korea-US summit scheduled for May will be held. The White House avoided specific comment, only saying the meeting will take place “at a place and time to be determined.”

At the moment, possible sites include Pyongyang, Washington and the alternative location of South Korea. Since Trump has accepted Kim’s proposal for talks, the possibility has been raised of Trump paying a visit to Pyongyang. That was the site of the two inter-Korean summits held in 2000 and 2007 as well as the planned site of a summit between US President Bill Clinton and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that almost happened in 2000.

“Kim Jong-un will want to bring Trump to Pyongyang in order to show that North Korea proposed talks not because of the sanctions but because of a strategic decision,” said former South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun. But given Trump’s sensitive ego, it’s likely that he will not volunteer to visit Pyongyang. That might look as if Trump is heading to North Korea with cap in hand.

Nor is North Korea likely to push too hard for Trump to visit Pyongyang. The inter-Korean summit scheduled for the end of April is being held at the House of Peace in the South Korean section of the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area, which suggests that Kim Jong-un does not have his heart set on his counterpart coming to Pyongyang, as his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il did. At the same time, it does not appear very likely that Kim Jong-un will visit Washington, either. That could create the impression that North Korea is “surrendering” to the US.

Trump himself is not expected to invite Kim to visit the US. When foreign leaders have visited the US, Trump has generally spoken with them at the White House. But the very act of inviting Kim to Washington for talks at the White House would signal that the US recognizes North Korea as a “normal state.” That is why the chances of the summit being held at the White House are low.

Since the very location of the talks will send a message, another possibility is that North Korea and the US could hold the summit not in either of their capitals but in the alternative location of South Korea. Considering that South Korea has sought to play the role of “mediator” between the North Korea and the US, holding the summit in the South would indicate that North Korea and the US acknowledge South Korea’s role.

“Holding the North Korea-US talks in South Korea is the most reasonable plan that all three sides can think of,” said an expert on North Korea who asked to remain anonymous. In 1989, US President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held a summit in the alternative location of Malta, where they declared the end of the Cold War.

If the summit is held in South Korea, some of the likely locations are Seoul and Jeju Island, which would be easier in terms of security. “Jeju seems to be the likely location. Not only would security arrangements be easier there than in Seoul, but Jeju is a resort area, which could provide the relaxed atmosphere that would be suitable for talks between the leaders of North Korea and the US, given their current lack of a trusting relationship,” said Cho Sung-ryul, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

“As the ‘Island of Peace,’ Jeju is the ideal place to hold the North Korea-US summit. If it is held on Jeju, I propose holding not only a North Korea-US summit but also a simultaneous trilateral summit among South Korea, North Korea and the US, which could lead to major progress toward peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong said in a position statement released on Mar. 9.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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