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Simon Denyer
Head of the Tokyo office covering Japan, North Korea and South Korea.
February 6th at 9:22
TOKYO – South Korea welcomed President Trump's announcement of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on February 27, and expressed hope on Wednesday that the duo could strengthen their first meeting for achieve "more precise and substantial progress" this time around.
The Blue House presidential also noted that the choice of Vietnam as a meeting place was carrying an important symbolism, indicating that friendship with the United States was possible after a long period of hostility.
"Vietnam and the United States are shooting rifles and knives, but have become friends," President Kim Eui-keum's spokesman said on Wednesday at a news conference. "We believe that Vietnam will be a perfect backdrop for the new story to be written between North Korea and the United States."
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump said his government was continuing its "historic efforts for peace in North Korea." He recalled the return of several US citizens imprisoned by the North Korean regime and the suspension of missile testing.
"If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would currently be in a major war with North Korea," Trump said. "There is still a lot of work to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is good. President Kim and I will meet again on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam. "
Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University, described the president's speech on preventing a "somewhat exaggerated" war, but acknowledged Trump's role in relaxing with North Korea.
President Trump salutes the attitude of his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un from the Capella Hotel in Singapore at their historic summit in June 2018. (Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)
"The possibility that North Korea is waging a real war was weak even before Trump took office," he said. "Nevertheless, North Korea's level of provocation had steadily increased with nuclear tests and missile launches until last year. It should be noted that Trump's decision to speak directly to Kim Jong Un marked a turning point in North Korea's attitude. "
Opinion on Trump's relationship with Kim Jong Un divides the North Korean experts.
Some attribute him the merit of opening a dialogue with Kim after years of drifting under his predecessor, Barack Obama. But some also blame him for failing to make concrete commitments to denuclearization when he met with the North Korean leader in Singapore last June.
Last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared that Trump and Kim must have move from an "abstract" conversation to a "concrete" action the next time they meet, to speed up their peace process and overcome mistrust.
On Wednesday, Blue House's statement echoed her sentiment.
"The two leaders have already taken the first step towards breaking the last 70 years of hostility in Singapore," spokesman Kim Eui-keum said. "We look forward to a more specific and substantial step forward in Vietnam."
[U.S. envoy to visit North Korea with plan to restart denuclearization talks]
Moon has invested his personal prestige in the North Korean peace process and wants to forge much closer economic relations with the North, but he has been hit by a slowdown in the rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang.
CNN announced this week that the summit was planned in the Vietnamese coastal city of Danang, but later said that Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, would also be an option.
US envoy Stephen Biegun is due to meet with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol in Pyongyang on Wednesday as he tries to advance preparations for the summit and prepare a plan to revive denuclearization talks.
Last Thursday, Biegun explained for the first time, in a speech at Stanford University, how he hoped to move the process forward, adopting what many experts described as a more flexible and realistic approach than the one adopted. until here by the administration.
In particular, he outlined the Trump Administration's vision for a fundamentally transformed relationship with North Korea, including significant economic commitment, if the country abandoned its nuclear arsenal.
But not everyone is convinced that the summit will result in significant progress.
Van Jackson, a former Pentagon official who now teaches at Victoria University in New Zealand, has described it as "television entertainment" that diverts the attention from true diplomacy, discussions between two parts being dominated by top-down planning rather than actual substance.
"I am a critic of the summit until he is connected to a diplomatic process that freezes and cancels North Korea's nuclear weapons," he said. "It could happen, but the last eight months do not give me any confidence."
A press article suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping could also visit Vietnam, and South Korean reporters on Wednesday asked Blue House if Moon could also participate. But spokesman Kim Eui-keum downplayed the odds.
"It depends on the progress of the negotiations between North Korea and the United States, but the possibility is low," he said.
The North Koreans called for a declaration officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War, a call that got support from the South Korean government and seems to be something Trump is willing to accept.
"President Trump is ready to end this war," Biegun said last week. "It's over. It's done."
The Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
But the leaders of the main protagonists – Korea, China and the United States – will have to sign a declaration ending the war. Experts believe that the time is very short to coordinate this step by the end of the month.
Japan said it hoped that the agreement reached by Trump and Kim last June, including the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, would be implemented "in a thorough and rapid manner", while the Australia said it was important to apply international sanctions against North Korea to show Pyongyang that "the world is also engaged" in its denuclearization.
"It's not an overnight process. It's a very important process, "said Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne at the Australian Broadcasting Corp. This will require lengthy negotiations with the regime. "
Read more:
South Korea wants the Trump-Kim summit to be a turning point. Others see it as a last chance.
Confusion on North Korea's definition of cloud denuclearization
Today's coverage of Swiss Post correspondents around the world
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