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Blue House chief of staff Im Jong-seok chairs an inaugural meeting of the inter-Korean summit preparatory committee at the Blue House on Mar. 16. From right are Im, senior presidential secretary for public relations Yoon Young-chan, Unification Vice Minister Chun Hae-sung, Blue House chief of state affairs Yoon Keun-young, National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and Office of Government Policy Coordination director Hong Nam-ki. (Yonhap News)
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President Moon briefs Trump, Abe on recent developments in the Korean Peninsula political situation
The Blue House made a decision on Mar. 16 to propose high-level inter-Korean talks to North Korea later this month in advance of a late April summit between South President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Moon called US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the same day to share recent developments in the Korean Peninsula political situation and news about preparations for the summit. In an inaugural meeting presided over that day by its chairman, Blue House chief of staff Im Jong-seok, the inter-Korean summit preparatory committee decided to make an official proposal to Pyongyang for high-level talks at the end of March, Im said. “We affirmed that this inter-Korean summit needs to be a turning point toward a fundamental resolution for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Im said in a briefing after the meeting. “To this end, we have decided to focus our preparations on an agenda toward the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization, establishment of permanent peace including a historic relaxation of military tensions, and new and bold progress in inter-Korean relations,” he added, clearly stating a three-part agenda for the inter-Korean talks. Im also announced efforts would “begin in early April toward holding South Korean artistic performances and taekwondo demonstrations in Pyongyang as agreed upon during a recent visit by a South Korean special presidential delegation.” Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-hwan is to head the visiting performance and taekwondo demonstration delegation, with working-level talks sent to take place at Panmunjeom early next week. The preparatory committee also plans to assemble a roughly 40-member advisory group headed by former Unification Minister Lim Dong-won to share the outcomes of two past inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 and gather opinions from across society. “Because [the venue] is the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area, we are anticipating a same-day summit,” Im said of the upcoming inter-Korean summit. “Rather than a single summit as in the past, we are looking forward to a new format of talks at Panmunjeom establishing itself between South and North going ahead,” he added, hinting at the possibility of Panmunjeom summits becoming a regular event. When asked about the possibility of a South Korea-US summit occurring between the inter-Korean summit in late April and North Korea-US summit in May, Im replied, “If the North Korea-US summit is held a certain length of time after the inter-Korean summit, then it may be a good idea to have South Korea-US talks at least at the working level over key issues.” In a 45-minute telephone conversation with Abe that afternoon, Moon stressed that “peace on the Korean Peninsula is not only possible through inter-Korean summits.” “For progress in inter-Korean relations to be achieved, North Korean needs to improve not only its relationship with the US, but also its relationship with Japan,” he said. In response, Abe shared his hopes for the inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits leading to possible North Korea-US dialogue, referencing the Sept. 2002 “peace declaration” announced by predecessor Junichiro Koizumi following his first summit in North Korea. Meanwhile, South Korean and US military authorities plan to officially announce a schedule around Mar. 19 for joint military exercises postponed for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a Ministry of National Defense senior official said. Authorities on both sides have reportedly set a two-month schedule from Apr. 1 to late May for Foal Eagle, a field training exercise mobilizing actual troops and equipment, and a two-week schedule from Apr. 23 to May 3 for Key Resolve, a computerized command-post exercise (CPX). By Kim Bo-hyeop and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
