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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in January. Xi will start a two-day trip to North Korea, Thursday, the first since he took office in 2013. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung, Kim Yoo-chul
Cheong Wa Dae is hoping the upcoming meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will lead to a fourth inter-Korean summit, a senior presidential office official said Tuesday.
"The presidential office isn't ruling out the possibility of a fourth inter-Korean summit ahead of the planned meeting here between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump at the end of June. If the inter-Korean summit takes place, that would be a huge plus in advancing the process of achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the aide told reporters in a briefing.
The government has had a thorough discussion with Chinese government representatives regarding Xi's summit with the North Korean leader, according to the aide.
"In order to keep the momentum of denuclearization dialogue alive, Cheong Wa Dae believes the upcoming summit between the leaders of China and North Korea will be meaningful."
President Moon earlier called on Kim to accept Seoul's repeated requests to hold the fourth summit, stressing it "isn't physically impossible." North Korea has yet to respond, though Cheong Wa Dae and relevant government agencies said they were in contact with the North, both officially and unofficially.
The unification ministry also said Xi's visit to Pyongyang could represent a new and concerted effort by Beijing to encourage the North to resume the denuclearization dialogue with the U.S.
"The government view is that Xi's visit to Pyongyang would make a contribution to realizing an earlier and peaceful settlement of affairs on the peninsula," an official from the ministry said.
Xi is expected to offer a way for Pyongyang and Washington to resume formal talks, while also looking to gain leverage with Trump as U.S.-China trade friction continues to grow, according to political analysts in Seoul.
"China is not on good terms with the United States under the current diplomatic environment due to the deepening trade disputes," said Park Hyung-joong, a senior researcher at Korea Institute for National Unification. "China, along with Russia, is seeking to take advantage of the North, raising its political influence. One of the crucial issues the U.S. is paying attention to in Asia is denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Xi will use his summit with Kim as a "political show of force" against the United States. "Xi's motive behind the visit to the North is to utilize North Korea politically ahead of his upcoming meeting with Trump during the G20 summit in Osaka next week," Shin said.
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