Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Trump, Kim may hold second summit
Trump receives letter from NK leader
By Kim Bo-eun
Stalled dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. over the former's denuclearization may reach a breakthrough, with the White House hinting at a second summit between their two leaders.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday preparations were underway for the second summit, after President Donald Trump received a “very warm, very positive” letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The letter was cited as “evidence of further progress,” along with a low-key military parade North Korea held Sunday marking the authoritarian regime's 70th anniversary.
The parade did not feature any intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which irk the U.S., and North Korea's head of “parliament” delivered an address instead of its _ all attempts to tone down the event, which was seen as welcoming dialogue with the U.S.
Trump lauded Kim Jong-un for these efforts, referring to them as “a big and positive statement from North Korea.”
The developments come after a delegation of South Korean envoys met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang last week. Kim conveyed to the envoys his willingness for the regime to denuclearize, and for this to take place within Trump's first term which ends in January 2021.
Before then, talks had been deadlocked for weeks, following the postponement of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang, which was attributed to the lack of progress in North Korea's denuclearization.
“It appears Secretary Pompeo's visit will take place after the inter-Korean summit next week, and a summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. will be held within the year,” said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.
“If the first June summit in Singapore produced a declaration, the second summit between Trump and Kim is expected to address implementing the agreement reached there,” said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
At their first meeting, the leaders agreed to work toward North Korea's complete denuclearization and for the two countries to end their hostile relationship.
“The initial steps for these measures will be for North Korea to submit a list of its nuclear inventory and for the U.S. to take the lead in ending the 1950-53 Korean War,” he said.
So far, progress has been stalled due to differences over which measure would be taken first _ with Pyongyang calling for the war to be ended to protect its regime, while Washington requires Pyongyang to take tangible denuclearization steps first. North Korea has shut down its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, but this has yet to be verified.
“Each side could make a half-step concession such as by agreeing for the measures to take place simultaneously,” he said.
On a related note, the new U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun met with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and held another meeting with his counterpart Lee Do-hoon in Seoul, Tuesday.
They shared their views on the South Korean envoys' meeting with the North Korean leader, and Biegun and Lee also held extensive discussions on North Korea's denuclearization, the foreign ministry said.
It is the U.S. official's first visit to Seoul since he assumed the post last month. He will head to China and Japan next, and is set to return to South Korea for further meetings.