hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump during their summit in Singapore on June 12. (Hankyoreh archives)

The Blue House is keeping a close eye on reports about the time and location of the second North Korea-US summit. On Oct. 22, a number of domestic and foreign news media cited a diplomatic source in Washington as saying the summit was likely to be held after the turn of the year, in early January.

If the North Korea-US summit is pushed back until next year, which would be later than originally expected, it could impact the schedule of the formal declaration of the end of the Korean War and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reciprocal visit to Seoul, both of which Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to do during their summit in Panmunjom on Apr. 27.

For now, officials in the Blue House are determined to wait for the results of the North Korea-US high-level talks, which are being held to decide the time and location of the summit. “The reports by some US media outlets that the North Korea-US summit is being delayed until January of next year are not confirmed and are based on a quote by an anonymous source. I’ve been given to understand that North Korea and the US are currently exchanging various opinions about the summit,” a senior official at the Blue House said during a press briefing on Monday.

“We’re getting mixed signals from the Americans, so it seems a little early to conclude that the North Korea-US summit will be delayed,” another senior official said in a telephone call with the Hankyoreh.

In related news, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is planning to ratify the Pyongyang Joint Declaration and the Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom Declaration in the Military Domain (Comprehensive Military Agreement) during a cabinet meeting on Oct. 23.

When the Unification Ministry recently inquired with the Ministry of Government Legislation as to whether the National Assembly’s approval is necessary to ratify these two agreements, the Ministry of Government Legislation reportedly said it is not. The Pyongyang Joint Declaration was signed by Kim and Moon and the Comprehensive Military Agreement was signed by South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and North Korean Minister of the People’s Armed Forces No Kwang-chol during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang on Sept. 19.

By Kim Bo-hyeop and Lee Kyung-mi, staff reporters

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