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Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at the Chosun Hotel in Seoul on Mar. 29. (Photo Pool)

On Mar. 29, the Blue House distanced itself from the argument made in some quarters in South Korea that the “gradual and simultaneous implementation of peace and denuclearization” mentioned during the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping is at odds with plans made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

“The respective plans and methods of South, North Korea and US will probably become clear through inter-Korean and North Korea-US talks. Considering that neither the American nor South Korean governments have expressed their official positions about the method of denuclearization, reports claiming that denuclearization won’t work out since the method mentioned by Kim Jong-un is different from ours are out of step with the current circumstances,” a senior Blue House official said during a meeting with reporters on Mar. 29.

The Blue House believes that, since the issues of denuclearization and a security guarantee for the North Korean regime are inextricably tied together, they will ultimately have to be resolved in stages, even if North Korea and the US reach a sweeping agreement about them. For this reason, Kim’s remarks about “gradual and simultaneous denuclearization” do not clash with Moon’s plan for denuclearization and a peace treaty.

“It’s possible that the North Korea-US summit in May could go beyond a freeze on nuclear weapons to the initial steps toward dismantling the nuclear program. But North Korea will respond by asking for something big in exchange, such as normalizing relations or a peace treaty. At the phase where the North is getting rid of its actual materials, it will want the irreversible normalization of its relations with the US and South Korea or a degree of trust that could lead to that,” one senior official said.

“The very term ‘denuclearization’ involves a large number of stages, from freezing the nuclear program to dismantling nuclear weapons. It’s not as simple as pulling up a transmission tower,” the official said.

“We welcome the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This summit has brought China into the discussion about peace on the Korean Peninsula, which we believe will help stabilize peninsular affairs. We expect that the upcoming inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-US summit will create a definite transition toward permanent denuclearization and peace on the peninsula,” said Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum on Mar. 29.

By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter

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