South Korean envoys meet Kim to advance nuclear diplomacy

SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean delegation met on Wednesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to hold a planned inter-Korean summit this month and help rescue a failed nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's office said the envoys of his national security adviser had handed Kim his personal letter and "exchanged views" on unspecified issues.

It is not clear that Korean officials have set a date for a third summit this year between Moon and Kim or they have progressed in stalemate in the negotiations between North Korea and the United States. on the dismantling of Kim's nuclear weapons program. When asked if the meeting with Kim had gone well, Moon spokeswoman Kim Eui-kyeom said he did not know.

The emissaries returned to South Korea after attending a dinner organized by the north. On Wednesday, they met Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief who negotiates with the United States on nuclear issues, and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Northern agency who manages inter-Korean affairs at the hotel. Koryo from Pyongyang.

South Korean officials said they could not provide more details. Moon's office plans to hold a briefing on the visit on Thursday.

Moon, who spoke on Tuesday by telephone with US President Donald Trump, said before the trip that his envoys had a crucial role to play at a "very important moment" that could determine the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean peninsula. .

While pursuing summits and inter-Korean engagement, Seoul is trying to persuade Washington and Pyongyang to simultaneously pursue peace and denuclearization processes so that they can overcome a growing dispute over the chain of diplomacy.

Seoul also hopes that a trilateral summit between countries, or a meeting of four countries also gathering Beijing, announces the official end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The US General Assembly at the end of September would be an ideal date for Seoul, but many analysts consider this possibility to be weak, given the complications of the process and the current remoteness of the parties.

US officials have insisted that a peace declaration, which many see as a precursor to the North, ultimately calling for the withdrawal of all US troops from the Korean peninsula, can only come before North Korea takes over. more concrete measures to abandon its nuclear weapons. Such measures may include reporting on the components of its nuclear program, permitting external inspections and abandoning a number of its nuclear weapons at the beginning of the negotiations.

While a declaration of end of war would not imply a legally binding peace treaty, the experts say that it could create a political momentum that would facilitate the conduct of discussions towards a peace regime, a diplomatic recognition, economic benefits and security concessions.

North Korea has accused the United States of making "unilateral and gangster-like" denuclearization demands and retaining the declaration of end of war. The North Korean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a long statement on its website saying that an end-of-war declaration would be a necessary step towards building trust between the enemies of war. the Korean peninsula. "

South Korean officials said an end-of-war statement would be among the issues discussed at meetings between South Korean envoys and North Korean officials.

"Our government believes that an end-of-war declaration is absolutely necessary as we embark on a process of stabilizing peace on the Korean peninsula with full denuclearization," said Chung Eui-yong, National Security Advisor. of Moon. delegation to Pyongyang at a press conference on Tuesday.

"We will continue to make efforts so that a declaration of end of war can be reached by the end of the year. We always maintain close communication with the United States. "

Moon's five-member delegation, which also included his senior intelligence officer, Suh Hoon, was the same group that went to Pyongyang in March, where they discussed and dined with North Korean leader Kim. in April. South Korean officials then visited Trump at the White House where they expressed Kim's desire to attend a summit, which Trump accepted on the spot.

After their June summit in Singapore, Trump and Kim issued a vague statement about a denuclearized peninsula without describing when and how it would occur. The nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang after the summit had a difficult start and quickly ended in deadlock.

While the United States maintains that efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas should go hand in hand with North Korea's denuclearization efforts, Moon recently said that inter-Korean engagement could take the lead.

"If necessary, we should move forward negotiations for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with the development of relations between the South and the North," said Chung.

Any progress could depend on the ability of Moon's emissaries to convince North Korea of ​​a stronger commitment to denuclearization to help revive nuclear talks between the United States and Pyongyang.

Trump has canceled a visit to North Korea last month by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing insufficient progress in denuclearization. The resumption of negotiations between the United States and North Korea sometime before the next inter-Korean summit, which will probably take place in mid-September, could allow Moon to work more on her arrival in Pyongyang.

Given the difficult circumstances, it is unclear whether Moon's representatives will return with a date other than the one set for her new summit with Kim.

The two inter-Korean summits in April and May dispelled the fears of the war and triggered global diplomatic pressure that culminated in Kim's meeting with Trump in June. But Moon faces tougher challenges ahead of his third meeting with Kim with stalemate in nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, raising fundamental questions about Kim's alleged willingness to give up his nuclear weapons.

Moon has been energetically pushing for engagement with North Korea in recent months, but the lack of progress in the nuclear talks could spell the end of inter-Korean détente.

"The moment is very important for bringing lasting peace to the Korean peninsula. that's why special envoys are sent to North Korea, "Moon said Monday. "Peace on the Korean peninsula goes hand in hand with the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and the government is closely monitoring and carefully managing the situation."

The Korean War ended with an armistice, leaving the peninsula technically still at war. Moon has made an end-of-war declaration an important premise of his peace program with North Korea.

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