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South Korean soldiers stand guard in the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area. From left are the buildings of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (T1), the Military Armistice Commission conference room (T2), and the Military Armistice Commission planning room (T3). The letter “T” written on the side of the buildings stands for “temporary.” (by Noh Ji-won, staff reporter)
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Pyongyang, Panmunjeom, Switzerland and Mongolia have been mentioned as possibilities
After US President Donald Trump announced on Apr. 17 that he is considering five locations for the historic North Korea-US summit, attention is focusing once again on where the meeting will be held. When reporters asked Trump whether the US was included in the potential sites of the meeting, he said that it was not, while declining to elaborate. But reports in the domestic and foreign press are generally mentioning sites on the Korean Peninsula that are symbolic of conflict, such as Pyongyang and Panmunjeom, as well as more neutral regions, such as Northern Europe, Switzerland and Mongolia. From the American perspective, Pyongyang has long been the heart of an enemy power. It is unlikely that a sitting president would visit that city without the guarantee of definite progress toward resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. But Pyongyang is also the city that former president Bill Clinton visited in 2000 in order to negotiate the return of two American journalists who had been imprisoned in North Korea. And given Trump’s penchant for shocking moves that defy expectations, a sudden visit to Pyongyang is not out of the realm of possibility. Panmunjeom is regarded as one of the most likely sites since it is a symbol of the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula. Another advantage is that the area is strictly controlled. When the New York Times reported on Mar. 10 that the White House had started pondering the location of the summit and a system for supporting the summit, it quoted a State Department official as saying that the most likely place was Panmunjeom. Mongolia, Switzerland, and Sweden in Northern Europe are sites that North Korea and the US could agree on because they are relatively neutral locations. Sweden has an embassy in Pyongyang that performs consular work on behalf of the US. Last month, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho raised eyebrows by visiting Sweden and meeting Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström. Switzerland is a small neutral country that has frequently hosted various international events, while Mongolia, given its geographical proximity to North Korea, is a place that Kim could reach by train. In 2012, Mongolia was recognized by the UN as a “nuclear-weapon-free zone.” But it is also possible that some other place could be chosen. On Apr. 18, Bloomberg quoted an anonymous official as saying that Beijing, Pyongyang, Seoul and Panmunjeom were not being considered and that Geneva and Southeast Asia were being discussed, while the Washington Post quoted an American government official on the same day as saying that South Korea had been ruled out and that countries in Europe and Asia, including Southeast Asia, were being reviewed. By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
