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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announce the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace

During the initial phase of implementing the joint statement that resulted from the North Korea-US summit in Singapore on June 12, the three countries of South Korea, North Korea and the US appear to be playing a three-way game, with each side advocating a different position on the relationship between denuclearization and declaring the end of the Korean War. Both North Korea and the US have reportedly been pushing South Korea officially and unofficially to help them gain the advantage in talks that neither side wants to fail.

Given South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s hope that the formal end of the war can serve as a catalyst toward denuclearization and improving North Korea-US relations, Moon is devoting more energy to seeking a breakthrough.

On July 23, a North Korean media post intended for foreign readers essentially urged the Moon administration to exert its influence to change the Americans’ opposition toward declaring the end of the war. “Concluding the current abnormal armistice and establishing a firm peace regime on the Korean Peninsula is a historic task that must not be delayed any longer,” said Uriminzokkiri, the website of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. The website also reminded readers that “the issue of declaring the end of the war was one of the important agreements specified in the historic Panmunjeom Declaration.”

“The regrettable thing is that the US has recently made an about-face and is refusing to declare the end of the war. The South Korean government, which is obligated to implement the terms of the Panmunjeom Declaration, must not turn its back on the issue of declaring the end of the war,” Uriminzokkiri said. This is thought to be a call for South Korea to take proactive steps to resolve this issue.

The North Koreans have said that declaring the end of the war would be the first step toward guaranteeing peace and assert that this is tied up with denuclearization measures. The Americans, however, have suggested that formally ending the war will only be possible after the North has taken at least some meaningful steps toward denuclearization. The Moon administration has been trying to convince the US that declaring the end of the war is only a “political declaration” that would have no legal or institutional force, since it is the step prior to a peace treaty that would build a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

But aside from US President Donald Trump, there is reportedly strong opposition to this view among Trump’s senior advisors, working-level officials and members of Congress. In particular, these figures are reportedly worried that declaring the end of the war would go beyond a political declaration that ends the Korean War and would be taken as a renunciation of the military option on the Korean Peninsula.

A political calculation also appears to be at work here – the US administration has responded to the prevailing view in the US that there has been no specific progress in the denuclearization negotiations since the North Korea-US summit by trying to avoid the appearance of making concessions to the North. Instead, the US has apparently been using various channels to ask South Korea to help convince North Korea to take proactive steps toward denuclearization.

Koo Kab-woo, professor at the University of North Korean Studies, offered the following take on the US’s hesitant attitude: “The US is facing a genuine dilemma because declaring the end of the war would take the military option [against North Korea] off the table. The US appears to think that the ramifications of formally ending the war may be greater than expected.”

Amid these circumstances, Moon has been reemphasizing his commitment to arranging for South Korea, North Korea and the US to declare the end of the war before the end of 2018, which is the 65th anniversary of the armistice agreement, with the hope that this declaration could be a catalyst for denuclearization and create new momentum for the North Korea-US talks, which are currently at a standstill.

Blue House National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong’s visit to the US on July 20 was part of these efforts, apparently aimed at narrowing the divide between the two sides. Seoul is reportedly trying to persuade the Americans of the beneficial effects of declaring the end of the war while impressing upon the North Koreans the need to take concrete steps toward denuclearization.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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