By Jun Ji-hye
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to the peaceful resolution of North Korean issues during their telephone conversation Saturday, raising hopes for a breakthrough on the Korean Peninsula.
The White House said in a statement, “The presidents also reiterated their mutual commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” adding, “The relationship between the two presidents is an extremely close one, and will hopefully lead to a peaceful resolution of the North Korea problem.”
The phone talks come amid mounting tensions following the exchange of fiery verbal threats between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump.
Last week, Kim threatened to strike areas around Guam with missiles in response to Trump’s warnings of “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Trump also tweeted that the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” to deal with the North’s provocations.
Such bellicose rhetoric has raised military tensions here, with some U.S. defense officials even talking about a specific operational plan to conduct a pre-emptive strike on the North with B-1B strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force, deployed to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, according to NBC News.
During the phone talks, Xi urged Trump to avoid hawkish remarks that could exacerbate tensions in the region, Chinese state media reported.
CCTV said Xi also called for a peaceful resolution of the North’s nuclear ambitions, stressing that peace on the peninsula is a common interest of Beijing and Washington.
A few hours before the talks, President Trump softened his tone toward Pyongyang while speaking to reporters at his golf resort in New Jersey, stressing that an opportunity for a peaceful solution is still open.
The Associated Press also reported that the United States and North Korea have been communicating behind the scenes for several months, saying such a back channel would mean there is still room for diplomacy in easing tension.
The report said, “Diplomatic contacts are occurring regularly between Joseph Yun, the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song-il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country’s U.N. mission.”
Seoul’s presidential office said the South Korean government acknowledged Trump and Xi’s active efforts to resolve heightened tension here.
“Our government will be in close coordination regarding the two leaders’ talks,” presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said. “We hope the two leaders’ phone talks could lead to a breakthrough in solving the problem.”
Experts said the phone conversation itself could put pressure on the North to some extent, citing a previous example that similar talks between Xi and Trump in April partially played a role in easing high military tension at the time.
They said which moves China would make to mediate the Pyongyang-Washington dispute would be key to easing the tension, adding that Beijing would have no choice but to do so because Washington is actively moving on a so-called “secondary boycott.”
The secondary boycott calls for penalties for third-party companies or individuals who deal with the North, mainly targeting China, Pyongyang’s sole ally.
“China seems to agree on the need to avoid an extreme confrontation between the United States and North Korea,” said Choi Kang, vice head of the Asan Institute of Policy Studies. “There is possibility for China to dispatch a special envoy to North Korea.”
But concerns are still abounding that it would be hard to alleviate tension for the time being as Seoul and Washington are scheduled to hold their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint exercise later this month.
Pyongyang customarily reacts with anger and military threats to such joint military exercises which it says is a rehearsal for invading the North.