Xi to support NK denuclearization

By Kim Tae-gyu

The denuclearization of North Korea will be a top issue at the summit between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping slated for late next month, sources said Thursday.

“South Korea and China are now in talks to call for North Korea’s denuclearization as a part of a joint declaration,” a source familiar with the matter said.

The North’s Feb. 12 nuclear test created a crack in relations between Beijing and Pyongyang. The latter’s recent efforts to repair the ties have been unsuccessful, according to government officials and analysts.

“China has become very proactive in stopping North Korea’s nuclear programs after the last nuclear test compared to the previous two tests in 2006 and 2009,” the source said. “In this climate, Park and Xi are likely to share stances of the North’s denuclearization in common.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent his special envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, to China last week and revealed his willingness to take part in dialogue including the long-stalled six-party talks.

His comments created hope because these are designed to get North Korea to give up its nuclear programs in return for various aid such as fuel and food.

However, Pyongyang has reiterated its policy of continuing to develop nuclear weapons.

NK defector issue

Also at issue is whether or not President Park will raise the topic of the repatriation of North Korean defectors during her first meeting with Xi as head of state. Most North Korean defectors flee to China across thei joint border.

According to experts, chances are high that she will do so as she hinted at this in recent remarks.

“North Korean human rights are a very important issue that we need to take up, that we cannot turn a blind eye to,” Park said during an interview with the Washington Post.

Her confidante, Kwon Young-se, the new ambassador to China, echoed the stance Thursday during a press conference.

The issue has been a major bone of contention between the two Koreas _ Seoul accepts the defectors, while Pyongyang drags them back to the communist country.

This came to the forefront this week after nine young North Korean defectors caught in Laos were forcibly sent back to their homeland. They were aged between 15 and 22 and suspicions rose that one of them is the child of a Japanese national abducted by the North in the 1970s.

They are feared to face imprisonment and harsh punishment as has been the case for previously repatriated defectors.

When asked, presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing said that the agenda of the Park-Xi summit has yet to be fixed. She said that it is typically finalized around 10 days ahead of the meeting.