By Lee Min-hyung
South Korea should maintain a "cautiously optimistic" stance with North Korea's rare signal for peace talks with the United States, as the decision apparently came amid stern international sanctions on the regime, experts said Friday.
"It is too early for South Korea to discuss whether the arranged summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will help ease tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Lee Jin-gon, professor of political science at Kyung Hee University.
"My view is that Kim offered the peace gesture to his U.S. counterpart as a last resort to overcome the regime's internal crisis."
No one can guarantee that Kim Jong-un's promise for the regime's denuclearization is sincere, and chances are that Pyongyang can suddenly break the promise again, according to the expert. This could make all the months-long efforts South Korea has made to enhance inter-Korean relations futile, he said.
"South Korea and the U.S. should thoroughly and clearly express their will to denuclearize the peninsula not to repeat a similar scenario of the past few decades," he said. "But it is true that President Moon Jae-in has contributed to alleviating inter-Korean tension and played a key role in arranging the Washington-Pyongyang summit."
On Friday, Chung Eui-yong, head of South Korea's National Security Office, held a meeting with Trump. In an after-meeting press conference, Chung noted Trump agreed to meet Kim by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.
Hong Min, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the agreement for the meeting, in itself, shows that the two countries have shown strong signs of recovering ties.
"If the agreement goes as planned, this will be the first time that leaders of the U.S. and North Korea meet each other," he said. This signals that Washington and Pyongyang are in a mood for peace, and the two leaders will have advanced-level of talks on various issues.
Hong said there stands little chance that both sides will discuss agendas on whether to legally recognize the regime as a nuclear weapons state.
"The agenda looks to be meaningless at a time when Kim sent his signal for denuclearization," he said.
Before the summit scheduled by May, the two sides will likely exchange working- and high-level delegations to share details, he said.
Possible summit venue
With the report on the possibly unprecedented summit between Washington and Pyongyang making global headlines, all eyes are on where the two leaders are expected to meet for the historic event.
Hong said it is likely that Trump will visit Pyongyang under the diplomatic custom, as Kim offered the meeting with Trump.
"Other options include South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju," he said. "The resort island is a good place to escort the two leaders, and comes with symbolic connotation that South Korea is mediating dialogue for the two leaders.
"Washington may come as a burden for Kim, as the upcoming meeting with Trump will be his first international debut for diplomacy," said the expert. "Kim may feel burdened by a possibly overwhelming global spotlight if he goes to Washington."
South Korea should maintain a "cautiously optimistic" stance with North Korea's rare signal for peace talks with the United States, as the decision apparently came amid stern international sanctions on the regime, experts said Friday.
"It is too early for South Korea to discuss whether the arranged summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will help ease tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Lee Jin-gon, professor of political science at Kyung Hee University.
"My view is that Kim offered the peace gesture to his U.S. counterpart as a last resort to overcome the regime's internal crisis."
No one can guarantee that Kim Jong-un's promise for the regime's denuclearization is sincere, and chances are that Pyongyang can suddenly break the promise again, according to the expert. This could make all the months-long efforts South Korea has made to enhance inter-Korean relations futile, he said.
"South Korea and the U.S. should thoroughly and clearly express their will to denuclearize the peninsula not to repeat a similar scenario of the past few decades," he said. "But it is true that President Moon Jae-in has contributed to alleviating inter-Korean tension and played a key role in arranging the Washington-Pyongyang summit."
On Friday, Chung Eui-yong, head of South Korea's National Security Office, held a meeting with Trump. In an after-meeting press conference, Chung noted Trump agreed to meet Kim by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.
Hong Min, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the agreement for the meeting, in itself, shows that the two countries have shown strong signs of recovering ties.
"If the agreement goes as planned, this will be the first time that leaders of the U.S. and North Korea meet each other," he said. This signals that Washington and Pyongyang are in a mood for peace, and the two leaders will have advanced-level of talks on various issues.
Hong said there stands little chance that both sides will discuss agendas on whether to legally recognize the regime as a nuclear weapons state.
"The agenda looks to be meaningless at a time when Kim sent his signal for denuclearization," he said.
Before the summit scheduled by May, the two sides will likely exchange working- and high-level delegations to share details, he said.
Possible summit venue
With the report on the possibly unprecedented summit between Washington and Pyongyang making global headlines, all eyes are on where the two leaders are expected to meet for the historic event.
Hong said it is likely that Trump will visit Pyongyang under the diplomatic custom, as Kim offered the meeting with Trump.
"Other options include South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju," he said. "The resort island is a good place to escort the two leaders, and comes with symbolic connotation that South Korea is mediating dialogue for the two leaders.
"Washington may come as a burden for Kim, as the upcoming meeting with Trump will be his first international debut for diplomacy," said the expert. "Kim may feel burdened by a possibly overwhelming global spotlight if he goes to Washington."
![[INTERVIEW] Jung Woo-sung was initially hesitant to take on role in 'Hunt'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/49e565c241d44d48b7795a3f430ab658.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
