US expert expects Trump to back S. Korea's 'END' peace initiative

Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaking during a press meeting in Seoul, Sept. 19. Yonhap

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump may support South Korea's new initiative to engage with North Korea and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula as it would be viewed as part of the overall effort to bring Pyongyang back to dialogue, a prominent U.S. expert said Friday.

During an online press briefing, Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the comment on the "END" initiative to foster peace through "exchange," "normalization" and "denuclearization."

"I think that he would not have a problem supporting the END initiative because he would see it as part of the overall effort to bring North Korea back to the table," Cha said during the briefing on Trump's upcoming visit to Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting set to take place on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung unveiled the initiative during a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month, as his administration seeks to resume inter-Korean engagement to reduce tensions and improve cross-border relations.

The initiative came as Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year — a move that Lee supported by pledging to become a "pacemaker" to help Trump play a role as a "peacemaker" during their bilateral summit at the White House in August.

On the likelihood of Trump meeting Kim during his visit to Korea, Wednesday and Thursday, Cha did not rule it out, citing a report that the North Koreans have started cleaning up a border area — something that they usually do not conduct unless they plan to have a meeting there.

Speculation has continued that Trump would seek to resume his personal diplomacy with Kim when he travels to Korea next week, as the White House has said that he remains open to talks with the reclusive leader "without any preconditions."

Trump held three in-person meetings with Kim during his first term -- the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in February in Hanoi and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

Asked if the second summit between Lee and Trump, set for Wednesday, can proceed in a friendly manner as it did during their first summit in August, the expert took note of ongoing efforts by Seoul and Washington to bridge differences over Korea's US$350 billion investment pledge under a trade deal struck in July.

"If they can reach agreement by the time Trump's there (in Korea), then the meeting will go fairly well," Cha said. "But if they don't reach agreement, I think they will still try to put on a good face."

The two countries reached a framework trade deal in late July, under which Seoul has committed to investing $350 billion in the U.S., among other pledges, in return for Washington's agreement to lower its "reciprocal" tariff and sector-specific duty on South Korean autos to 15 percent from 25 percent.

But the deal has yet to go into force amid negotiations to reconcile differences over a series of sticking points, including how to fund the investment package.