'Moon should show leadership during inter-Korean summit'

By Lee Min-hyung

Rep. Park Jie-won of minor liberal Party for Democracy and Peace

Rep. Park Jie-won of the minor liberal Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) has called on President Moon Jae-in to display strong leadership during the upcoming inter-Korean summit amid concerns over the ongoing diplomatic cracks between Washington and Pyongyang.

“President Moon needs to play a proactive role in the scheduled summit as a mediator for Washington-Pyongyang relations,” Park posted on Facebook, Wednesday.

Park served as a special envoy to North Korea under the Kim Dae-jung administration, deeply involved in the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.

The remark came in response to the abrupt cancellation of Pompeo's planned visit to Pyongyang in what is seen as a move to intensify diplomatic pressure against the North at a time when their ongoing denuclearization talks show no signs of improvement.

Despite the ongoing war of words between Washington and Pyongyang, both sides are still showing their willingness to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to the lawmaker.

“The U.S. Department of State is also in a position that the June 12 agreement between leaders from the two countries has not been broken,” Park said.

Against this backdrop, the role of President Moon is very crucial during his planned meeting with Kim next month, with Park urging Moon to show strong and smart leadership at the third inter-Korean summit.

Earlier this year, President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by reaching a series of agreements regarding the establishment of peace and denuclearization on the peninsula.

During the first inter-Korean summit on April 27, the President also played a crucial role in persuading Kim to come to the international stage and share his pledge for peace.

The North's young leader then met with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. The historic meeting was the first of its kind between leaders of the two countries.

Washington and Pyongyang have since engaged in a series of dialogues to narrow their differences on the timeline of the North's denuclearization. But with the North expressing complaints over what it calls “unilateral” demands from the U.S., their dialogue momentum has been losing steam.