Can another inter-Korean summit bring breakthrough?
President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump held their summit in Washington, D.C., Thursday. They reaffirmed their shared goal: the complete denuclearization of North Korea and establishment of a permanent peace regime.
Yet the two leaders showed differences over details on how to achieve the goal and when to ease or lift international sanctions against North Korea. This indicates that it is difficult to expect any quick breakthroughs in nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang which have been stalled since the breakdown of the Feb. 28 Hanoi summit.
Moon and Trump discussed ways of holding a third U.S.-North Korea summit. However, it is still unclear when Trump can meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un again. Given the deadlocked negotiations, the U.S. president made it clear he would not rush to have another summit with Kim.
The two leaders only concurred on the need to maintain the momentum for U.S.-North Korea dialogue. They also stressed the importance of the ongoing top-down approach toward finding a peaceful and negotiated solution to the nuclear showdown.
Moon must have founded it much harder than ever to play as a mediator or facilitator to help make progress in the North's denuclearization and bring peace to the peninsula. He appeared to have failed to persuade Trump to accept his proposal for a comprehensive deal with the North which demands a step-by-step implementation of nuclear disarmament.
But Trump reconfirmed that sanctions remain in place until the North achieves a final, fully verified denuclearization. He said there is no change in the firm U.S. position for a "big deal" formula which calls for complete denuclearization first and sanctions relief later.
For his part, Kim is not ready to soften his position that the U.S. should take corresponding measures such as sanctions relief in return for the North's dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. However, the U.S. wants the North to do more to scrap plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities, long-range missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
Against this backdrop, Moon had to return home with much difficult homework to do as a mediator. He raised the idea of holing a fourth summit with Kim. Moon has boasted of his track record of brokering talks between Kim and Trump and breaking the deadlock whenever Pyongyang and Washington met hurdles.
But now Moon faces a greater challenge of persuading Kim into returning to the negotiating table to solve the problem through dialogue and compromise. That is why the President should double down on exercising his leadership and diplomatic skills to convince Kim that North Korea can enjoy peace and prosperity only when it gives up its nuclear and missile programs completely.
Few Koreans want to see Moon stuck between a too-demanding Trump administration and the recalcitrant Kim regime. We hope he will once again find a way out of the impasse and help the U.S. and the North make real progress in denuclearization.
President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump held their summit in Washington, D.C., Thursday. They reaffirmed their shared goal: the complete denuclearization of North Korea and establishment of a permanent peace regime.
Yet the two leaders showed differences over details on how to achieve the goal and when to ease or lift international sanctions against North Korea. This indicates that it is difficult to expect any quick breakthroughs in nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang which have been stalled since the breakdown of the Feb. 28 Hanoi summit.
Moon and Trump discussed ways of holding a third U.S.-North Korea summit. However, it is still unclear when Trump can meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un again. Given the deadlocked negotiations, the U.S. president made it clear he would not rush to have another summit with Kim.
The two leaders only concurred on the need to maintain the momentum for U.S.-North Korea dialogue. They also stressed the importance of the ongoing top-down approach toward finding a peaceful and negotiated solution to the nuclear showdown.
Moon must have founded it much harder than ever to play as a mediator or facilitator to help make progress in the North's denuclearization and bring peace to the peninsula. He appeared to have failed to persuade Trump to accept his proposal for a comprehensive deal with the North which demands a step-by-step implementation of nuclear disarmament.
But Trump reconfirmed that sanctions remain in place until the North achieves a final, fully verified denuclearization. He said there is no change in the firm U.S. position for a "big deal" formula which calls for complete denuclearization first and sanctions relief later.
For his part, Kim is not ready to soften his position that the U.S. should take corresponding measures such as sanctions relief in return for the North's dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. However, the U.S. wants the North to do more to scrap plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities, long-range missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
Against this backdrop, Moon had to return home with much difficult homework to do as a mediator. He raised the idea of holing a fourth summit with Kim. Moon has boasted of his track record of brokering talks between Kim and Trump and breaking the deadlock whenever Pyongyang and Washington met hurdles.
But now Moon faces a greater challenge of persuading Kim into returning to the negotiating table to solve the problem through dialogue and compromise. That is why the President should double down on exercising his leadership and diplomatic skills to convince Kim that North Korea can enjoy peace and prosperity only when it gives up its nuclear and missile programs completely.
Few Koreans want to see Moon stuck between a too-demanding Trump administration and the recalcitrant Kim regime. We hope he will once again find a way out of the impasse and help the U.S. and the North make real progress in denuclearization.
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