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South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks at a Q&A session hosted by the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York on Sept. 25. (Kim Jung-hyo, staff photographer)
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Stresses sincerity of NK’s denuclearization commitment to US and international community
South Korean President Moon Jae-in focused on his role as a “mediator” in resolving the current impasse between Pyongyang and Washington during his US visit to attend a UN General Assembly session, actively sending messages about the sincerity of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s commitment to denuclearization to the international community, US President Donald Trump and US diplomats. In particular, Moon worked to increase the likelihood of a second North Korea-US summit within the year and cooperation from the international community, sharing Kim’s remarks about “not using trickery” on denuclearization during their Sept. inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang just before the US visit. “Chairman Kim told me, ‘I’m aware that in spite of North Korea’s various measures for denuclearization, many people are the world are still saying, “We can’t trust North Korea, it’s all trickery, they’re buying time,”’” President Moon said in a Sept. 25 Q&A session following a speech co-organized by the Council on Foreign Relations for diplomatic experts and opinion leaders. “But what could North Korea possibly gain from trickery or stalling tactics under the current circumstances? In such a case, there would be powerful retaliation from the US. How could North Korea endure that retribution? We want them to trust in North Korea’s sincerity this time,” he further quoted Kim as saying. The message relayed from Kim stressed that North Korea had already dismantled its nuclear test site at Punggye Village and called for trust in additional future actions – including the permanent dismantling of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon – as the US adopts corresponding measures. “Chairman Kim is young, but he is very forthright, and he is not only respectful toward elders but also very strong in his desire to develop North Korea economically,” Moon continued. “I trust that Chairman Kim is sincere about being able to abandon nukes for the sake of economic development, provided that the US offers support for North Korea’s economic development and grants that trust while extending proper guarantees for North Korea’s security,” he said, in a message seen as a bid to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and improve North Korea-US relations by combating negative perceptions of Kim among foreign affairs and national security think tank figures who exercise major influence on Washington’s Korean Peninsula policies. Moon also spoke up for Kim in an interview with strongly conservative-leaning Fox News. “Chairman Kim has expressed his unchanging trust in and expectations of President Trump,” he said. “I believe President Trump is the only one who can achieve the great historical feat of North Korea’s complete denuclearization,” he added. He went to argue that even if Pyongyang cannot be fully trusted, Seoul and Washington stand to lose nothing from denuclearization negotiations. “The measures North Korea needs to adopt are the dismantling of its nuclear test site, missile test site, and Yongbyon nuclear complex and the abandonment of the nuclear weapons that have been developed – so-called ‘irreversible measures,’” he explained. “Measures like the halt to military exercises that the US and South Korea have adopted are things that could be resumed at any time. If we did loosen sanctions [against North Korea], we could simply toughen them once again if North Korea breaks its promises,” he said. With his message, Moon appeared to stress the need for the US and international community to offer corresponding measures for the various actions taken by Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Moon further called on Washington to actively agree to a second North Korea-US summit, explaining in a Sept. 24 South Korea-US summit that Kim had “expressed his hope to meet soon with President Trump and quickly finish denuclearization.” Meeting with reporters after the summit, a senior Blue House official said Moon had “personally relayed the message he received from Chairman Kim in Pyongyang to President Trump.” By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
