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SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wanted to denuclearize the Korean peninsula during the first term of US President Donald Trump, while agreeing to hold a third summit with his South Korean counterpart. month.
Chung Eui-yong, head of security bureau at the Seoul Blue House, meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea, on September 5, 2018. Photo taken on September 5, 2018. Presidential Blue House / REUTERS
Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet in the North Korean capital on September 18-20 to discuss "practical measures" for denuclearization, told reporters the national security advisor to the South, Chung Eui-yong. after meeting Kim in Pyongyang.
Kim told South Korean officials that his trust in Trump remained "unchanged" and that he wanted to denuclearize and put an end to the long-standing hostile relations between North Korea and the United States during Trump's first term in 2021 said Chung.
Kim's remarks to the South Korean authorities mark the first time that the North Korean leader offers a potential timetable for the dismantling of his country's nuclear weapons program.
Kim "reiterated his determination to completely denuclearize" the peninsula and expressed his willingness to cooperate closely with South Korea and the United States in this regard, said Chung.
"President Kim … expressed his frustration at the doubts expressed by some parts of the international society about his will," Chung said.
"North Korea has preemptively implemented the measures necessary for denuclearization, and Mr. Kim has stated that he would appreciate such good faith being accepted in good faith."
South Korea Moon on Wednesday sent Chung and other envoys to the North Korean capital to set the agenda and agenda for this year's third inter-Korean summit and to end negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang on dismantling the program. nuclear power.
Kim and Trump held a landmark summit in June in Singapore, stating that they would work towards full denuclearization, establish "new" relations and establish a "lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean peninsula.
But negotiations have since stalled over differences over how to implement the agreement, and in view of signs of continued North Korean weapons program. Trump abruptly canceled US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang last month, citing lack of progress in the talks.
At the meeting on Wednesday, Kim noted that the initial steps taken by North Korea, including the dismantling of its underground nuclear test site and missile engine facility, have halted nuclear and long-range missiles.
"If reciprocity is shown for the preventive measures of North Korea that have already been carried out, he expressed his willingness to take more active measures for the denuclearization of North Korea."
Pyongyang said the United States should do the same with North Korea's goodwill gestures, which also include the return of US remnants of war, by formally declaring the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
But US officials have said they have already made concessions, with the suspension of joint US-South Korean military exercises. They also fear that an end-of-war declaration will weaken North Korea's push for denuclearization, while raising questions about some 18,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War.
The US president said on Wednesday that the end of the Korean War had nothing to do with the US-South Korean alliance or US troops in South Korea, Chung said.
Report by Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee; Written by Soyoung Kim; Edited by Christopher Cushing
