'US may normalize relations with NK'

By Kim Bo-eun

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday his country has expectations to normalize relations with North Korea if Pyongyang's denuclearization is agreed upon in his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next week and follow-up talks.

Normalizing relations with the U.S. has been something North Korea has been seeking as part of measures to have the safety of its regime guaranteed. By establishing diplomatic ties with Washington, Pyongyang hopes to remove any military threat from the U.S.

“Normalizing relations is something I would expect to do,” Trump said in a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who visited the White House for a summit.

However, Trump said it was something he “would hope to do when everything's complete,” signaling that establishing ties with North Korea would take place toward the end of the denuclearization process.

By saying so, he again affirmed that denuclearization would be a process, not a one-shot deal.

The U.S. president also said he could invite the North Korean leader to the White House if the June 12 summit in Singapore is successful. A day earlier, Bloomberg reported that Trump might invite Kim to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for follow-up talks.

Trump also said there was a possibility for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War at the summit.

He mentioned the possible declaration for the first time last week, after meeting with top North Korean official Kim Yong-chol who visited Washington, D.C., to deliver a letter from the North Korean leader.

Declaring the end to the war would be part of measures to guarantee the safety of the North Korean regime, along with signing a peace treaty with the involved countries.

Earlier expectations were that South Korean President Moon Jae-in could join the Kim-Trump summit in Singapore for discussions on ending the war. Moon's visit seems unlikely to take place as of now.

Speculation is therefore growing that an initial declaration of an end to the war could be made between the leaders of the North and the U.S., or it could be delayed to include more members South Korea and possibly China. The declaration could be made on July 27, marking the 65th year since the signing of the armistice in 1953.

Trump's remarks about normalizing relations with North Korea and a possible declaration ending the war ― which are among the rewards North Korea is seeking ― are viewed as a means to get the regime to commit to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear program.

If North Korea does not show such a commitment, Trump said he could walk out of the meeting at anytime. He cancelled the planned summit once, citing hostile remarks from North Korea. However, it was revived after North Korea said it wanted dialogue with the U.S. and Kim Yong-chol went to deliver Kim Jong-un's message to Trump.

The U.S. president said he was “very well prepared” for the summit, which was echoed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I am very confident the president will be fully prepared when he meets his North Korean counterpart,” Pompeo told reporters after Trump's press conference.

He said the gap between the U.S. and North Korea's understanding of denuclearization has narrowed, but declined to elaborate.

After attending the Singapore summit, Pompeo will head to Seoul and Japan for meetings with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to share the details of the Trump-Kim summit, according to the State Department. He will then head to Beijing.