Cheong Wa Dae hopeful of Kim-Putin summit
A man passes by a TV screen at Seoul Station displaying an April 23 news program airing images of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The screen reads: “Kim Jong-un visits Russia soon.” AP-Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul
A senior presidential aide expressed a cautious view over the upcoming summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tuesday, saying it could be helpful in advancing the denuclearization process.
“Kim's visit to Russia is a natural course of action for North Korea in the ongoing denuclearization talks,” the aide told reporters, asking not to be named. “If the summit brings a positive impact as we hoped, then that will be a good thing for South Korea.”
Both North Korea and Russia confirmed the summit between their leaders. They didn't provide details of the exact date or location of the meeting, though expectations were that it would be in Russia's far eastern port city of Vladivostok.
Regarding the key topics and issues that will be possibly discussed at the summit, the aide said: “It would be an ideal scenario for Kim in seeking and exploring ways to get economic and other additional benefits after dismantling his country's nuclear program.”
The aide also said the North Korean leader vowed and committed several times to bring a lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula by taking steps to denuclearize. “This is why Kim Jong-un was open to a third summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to unlock the stalled nuclear dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang,” the aide said.
Putin has long expressed his hope and willingness to meet the North Korean leader. With China, Russia is one of the strongest backers of the North, primarily focusing on economic fronts as Moscow has been providing some food assistance. Russia is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“One of the key themes likely to predominate in the wake of this meeting will be the notion that Russia is competing with China for influence on the peninsula. While there is a kernel of truth in both of these two rather predictable interpretations, they each gloss over the interesting opportunities that the North Korea-Russia summit raises for actually decreasing tensions in Northeast Asia,” said Lyle J. Goldstein, a research professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute at the United States Naval War College.