Moon urges Kim Jong-un to join DMZ landmine removal
President Moon Jae-in speaks at the start of his meeting with the National Unification Advisory Council at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday afternoon. Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
President Moon Jae-in urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to accept his proposal to create an “international peace zone” to replace the demilitarized zone (DMZ), stressing this would clearly give North Korea an irreversible security guarantee.
“Replacing the demilitarized zone (DMZ) with an international peace zone is a process of building trust,” Moon said at the start of a meeting with officials from the National Unification Advisory Council at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday afternoon, according to press pool reports.
“As I hope the United Nations will agree with the initiative, if the plan moves forward with the help of U.N. bodies, then that will satisfy the North's requests for security guarantees.”
Moon also asked relevant government agencies to contact the international community to prepare “appropriate action plans” if the North takes visible steps to denuclearize.
“On the sidelines of my visit to this year's United Nations General Assembly in New York, last week, I had very candid discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump over several key pending issues that included ways to advance the denuclearization talks, visibly and substantially, and bring a permanent peace to the peninsula,” Moon said.
At the U.N., the South Korean leader floated the idea of inviting the North to join collective efforts to remove landmines from the DMZ, which has one of the world's highest concentrations of such weapons. Moon said that if this was done, he would work with Pyongyang to have the DMZ listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
After months of stalemate in the nuclear disarmament talks between the U.S. and North Korea, following the failed summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February, there have recently been moves to break the impasse.
Working-level talks could resume in October, and according to diplomatic sources here, Washington and Seoul are discussing “positive” and “negative” assurances to guarantee the North's security
Positive assurances include a commitment from the U.S. to take action if any state attacks North Korea. Negative assurances, preferred by Seoul, are promises not to attack the country. These specifically include detailed plans such as establishing liaison offices in Washington and Pyongyang, replacing the armistice that ended the Korean War with a peace treaty and eventually reducing the number of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea.
At the meeting with the council officials, President Moon said he wanted to use the “international peace zone” as an “industrial zone for co-prosperity” between the Koreas.
“IOC President Thomas Bach vowed his support for the idea, saying one of the IOC's primary roles was to help bring lasting peace to the peninsula,” Moon said.
Despite the President's optimism, North Korea has not responded to his suggestion.
Separately, South Korea's Unification Ministry said it would discuss with the World Food Program (WFP) the planned delivery of 50,000 tons of rice to the impoverished North. The plan has been on hold because the North has refused to accept the aid.
“Talks between our government and the WFP are important,” unification ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min told a regular briefing when asked whether the aid plan had fallen through. “We are going to decide how to deal with this issue through continued consultations with the WFP.”
In June, South Korea announced the plan to provide 50,000 tons of rice to North Korea via the WFP to help address worsening food shortages there. Seoul's original plan was to complete the delivery by the end of this month.