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A view of the Blue House (Hankyoreh archives)

On July 31, the Blue House said it was too early to say whether the declaration of the end of the Korean War – which was agreed upon in the Panmunjeom Declaration, which resulted from the inter-Korean summit on Apr. 27 – would be made by three parties or by four, but that it was not writing off the possibility of four parties.

The Blue House had previously been pushing for a trilateral declaration of the end of the war by South Korea, North Korea and the US and a quadrilateral peace treaty between South Korea, North Korea, the US and China, but there are signs that it’s moving toward allowing China to participate in the declaration, too.

When a senior official at the Blue House was asked during a meeting with reporters on July 31 whether the focus has been shifting from a trilateral to a quadrilateral declaration since the North Korea-US summit, the official’s response was that Seoul had never said the declaration had to be trilateral.

“Basically, the most logical thing is for the war to be declared over by the countries who have hostile relations. If China wants to participate in that declaration, there’s no reason to prevent it from doing so. The Blue House has never said the declaration has to be made by three parties,” the official said.

“What’s more important than the ceremonial aspects of the declaration is whether it actually takes place,” the official also said. This appears to mean that the government is less concerned with which countries take part in the declaration than with making the declaration happen to push forward the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The Blue House’s subtle shift in stance appears to be connected to an off-the-record visit to South Korea by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in early and mid-July, Yang’s meeting with Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong and Chung’s visit to the US from July 20 to 22.

The official responded to reporters’ questions about the possibility of the third inter-Korean summit, which is supposed to be held in Pyongyang, taking place at the end of August by saying that “nothing has been discussed yet.”

“Since movement on the inter-Korean issue speeds up and slows down depending on how things go, I think both sides have their own sophisticated political calculations,” the official added.

If the declaration of the end of the war is actually arranged before the end of the year, as South and North Korea agreed to do in the Panmunjeom Declaration, many expect that it will happen around the UN General Assembly this September. Given North Korea and the US’s agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and settle their hostile relations, if those two countries make progress in their relations, some think that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could attend the UN General Assembly, hold a second summit with the US and participate in a summit with South Korea, the US and possibly even China in order to formally end the Korean War.

By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter

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