hankyoreh

South Korean President Moon Jae-in holds a New Year’s press conference at the Blue House on Jan. 10. (Kim Jung-hyo

South Korean President Moon Jae-in described North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s recent fourth China visit as “a sign that a second North Korea-US summit is at hand and an act of preparation for that.”

Speaking in a New Year’s press conference on Jan. 10, President Moon predicted, “The meeting between Chairman Kim Jong-un and [Chinese] President Xi Jinping will have a positive impact on the success of the second North Korea-US summit.”

“I anticipate hearing before long that high-level meetings are taking place between North Korea and the US toward a second bilateral summit,” he added.

Moon predicted the second North Korea-US summit would be “a setting for negotiating what concrete measures North Korea will take and what corresponding measures the US will take in terms of the processes available to each of them.”

“To resolve the sanctions issue quickly, North Korea will first need to undertake bold and substantive denuclearization measures, and corresponding [US] measures to promote and encourage North Korea’s denuclearization will also need to be considered,” he said.

“That is going to be the most important issue for the second North Korea-US summit,” he added.

A senior official in foreign affairs and national security interpreted the remarks as “signaling that the loosening of sanctions is going to be an important item on the agenda.”

Moon also noted, “North Korea is aware that clear denuclearization measures are necessary to get the sanctions lifted, and the US is aware that corresponding measures are needed to promote denuclearization measures.”

“Because of the longstanding distrust [between North Korea and the US], they feel that they can’t trust each other and are each demanding that the other act first,” he explained.

“It’s because of that divide that a second North Korea-US summit has been put off for so long,” he added.

He went on to say, “I suspect some common ground for bridging those differences in views has been established over the course of that delay.”

“I sense that we could put a more positive spin on that – if a second North Korea-US summit takes place in the near future, it means there must have been some bridging of differences on those points,” he continued.

Moon also reaffirmed his commitment to pursuing a declaration officially ending the Korean War.

“I think that if we have a number of declarations in favor of softening hostile relations in accordance with an end-of-war declaration, North Korea will move quickly toward denuclearization, and a peace agreement could be signed,” he predicted.

“The timeline may have been adjusted, but the [end-of-war declaration] process is alive and well,” he stressed.

In connection with this, he added, “A peace agreement must be signed once we reach the final stage of denuclearization, and the countries that took part in the war will need to be parties to that peace agreement.”

“A multilateral system is essential, if only to ensure subsequent peace,” he said.

He also explained that the end-of-war declaration had been “envisioned as a political declaration in favor moving forward on that sort of path.”

In reference to the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mt. Kumgang tourism project, Moon said, “I very much welcome North Korea’s commitment to resuming them ‘without any precondition and in return for nothing.’”

“This means that the issues to be addressed with North Korea to resume operations at the Kaesong Complex and tourism at Mt. Kumgang have been effectively resolved,” he said.

“I plan to cooperate with the US and the international commitment for the swift resolution of the remaining matter, namely the issue of international sanctions,” he added.

His remarks came in response to the New Year’s address by Kim Jong-un on Jan. 1, where the North Korean leader said the North was “willing to resume the Kaesong Industrial Park and Mt. Kumgang tourism without any precondition and in return for nothing.” They also signaled that while North Korea’s confiscation and freezing of South Korean assets in retaliation for the two projects’ suspension would need to be resolved before they can resume, Seoul views that as unlikely to be an issue now.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer, and Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]