Korean Leaders Have Second Successful Meeting Despite Unclearness of Summit Plans

Top leaders of both South Korea and North Korea have met for a monumental meeting at the demilitarized border in order to discuss subsequent steps to be taken between the two countries.

The given meeting is only the second one between North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in. The meeting comes as the two countries continue to put in efforts to ensure the solidification of the US-North Korea summit that is scheduled for June.

US President Donald Trump had initially called for the cancellation of the summit that was scheduled in Singapore for June 12^th but later stated that it could still take place.

Last week, top leaders of both North Korea and South Korea had had an important meeting that resulted in a positive step forward towards the meeting leading to the North Korean US summit

New Series of Talks

The latest talks were conducted in the Panmunjom truce village, on the northern side around 15:00 and 17:00 local time: that’s about 06:00 and 0:800 GMT as stated by Mr. Moon’s office.

In a press statement, Mr. Moon’s office further stated both leaders exchanged meaningful opinions, and that Mr. Moon would proceed to announce the outcome of the talks soon enough.

Washington Update

In Washington, the spokeswoman to the Trump administration, Sarah Sanders, made clear that an advanced team of both Department of State officials and a team of White House officials jetted to Singapore over the weekend, as was originally planned, to prepare for the possibility of the summit occurring there.

Despite the slight fallback between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, it appears this new meeting has breathed life into the US summit, with both parties stating that they are confident of the meeting taking place

Denuclearizing the Peninsula

The summit between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim, if it will take place, will focus on reducing the tensions between the two countries, as well as aim to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

At first, President Trump had canceled the scheduled meeting a fortnight ago on Thursday, citing the open hostility and tremendous anger. However, after the North-South Korean meeting took place, the President commented on the productive talks via Twitter, stating that it was possible that the summit with the North and Mr. Kim would likely take place.

In a press statement, President Trump said he would wait to see what happens. He stated that they were still in dialogue with the North. However, he was encouraged by the comments that North Korea’s Vice-Foreign Minister, Kim Kye-gwan, said.

The vice-foreign minister had said that it was extremely regrettable as well as unexpected for the recent fallout, further reinforcing that Pyongyang was ready and willing to have face-to-face talks at any time.

For both parties, their terms of denuclearization are totally different. The United States would like complete denuclearization for the North, while the North would prefer the states to denuclearize as well

In response to this, Mr. Trump stated in a letter addressed to Mr. Kim that he had decided to cancel the highly anticipated meeting for the benefit of both parties. However, thanks to the recent wonderful dialogue that had taken place, the United States was more than willing to meet with the North Korean leader.

The Goal of Denuclearization

While the goal of both parties is denuclearization, the meaning for both the United States and North Korea seems to differ, causing conflict.

For example, the United States has stated that it would like to see the complete and utter destruction (irreversible dismantling) of all of its nuclear programme as well as its weapons.

Moreover, they would like international inspectors to monitor each and every step of the process, before any talks regarding the lifting of sanctions shall take place.

On the other hand, North Korea’s denuclearization definition means that if Pyongyang will give up its nuclear assets, they would see the same process done by Washington.