ED Historic summit

North Korea should take sincere steps for denuclearization

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to become the first sitting American president to meet a North Korean leader after he accepted Kim Jong-un’s invitation to hold a summit. Trump’s acceptance came as a big surprise given his hard-line stance on the North over the nuclear standoff between the two countries.

We welcome Trump’s bold diplomatic gambit, which could produce a major breakthrough in the North’s denuclearization and bring a thaw in bilateral ties. The move could also help defuse tension and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Now Washington and Pyongyang ought to make strenuous efforts to follow through on making peace and building trust. Most of all, they need to ensure the planned summit is aimed at denuclearizing the peninsula, as the U.S. and its ally South Korea have long sought. For this, the North should take sincere and concrete steps toward denuclearization so it can prove its genuine intention.

The latest breathtaking developments surrounding the peninsula have come since last month’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics with the North’s charm offensive. During a meeting with President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys in Pyongyang last week, Kim expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with the U.S. to discuss the denuclearization issue. Moon and Kim agreed to hold a third inter-Korean summit. And then Moon sent the special envoys, led by National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, to the U.S. to deliver Kim’s message to Trump.

In fact, few knew beforehand that Kim would propose a summit with Trump. And no one expected the U.S. president to accept Kim’s olive branch immediately after Chung relayed the North Korean leader’s message Thursday. Trump made the decision so quickly and off the cuff, that it stunned the world. What made him make such a bold decision is an open question.

Trump’s announcement of a summit with Kim is unprecedented considering standard diplomatic procedures. This may be a cause for concern among his secretaries and policymakers. That’s why the White House said Friday President Trump would not meet Kim unless Pyongyang took “concrete actions.”

It is right to have cautious optimism. Kim has yet to promise to give up his nuclear ambitions. And a summit meeting alone will not fix all the problems once and for all. Therefore it is important to keep pressure and sanctions on the North until the recalcitrant country scraps its nuclear program in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible” manner.

The historic U.S.-North Korea summit is scheduled for May after the inter-Korean summit in late April. Seoul and Washington should step up cooperation to produce successful results from both summits. The two sides should not play into the hands of Kim, who apparently wants to use his nuclear weapons as leverage to extract concessions such as sanctions relief, security guarantees, economic rewards and diplomatic ties with the U.S.

President Moon in particular should play a more active role in mediating between the U.S. and the North in finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis. He needs to keep the momentum for detente to start a peace process on the peninsula. He also must work closely with Chinese, Japanese, and Russian leaders to establish permanent peace in Northeast Asia and across the world.