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| Moon Chung-in, a special presidential adviser for national security, unification and foreign affairs listens to questions during a recent interview with The Korea Times. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kim Yoo-chul
Chinese President Xi Jinping should ask U.S. President Donald Trump to ease sanctions on North Korea at their upcoming summit, according to Moon Chung-in, a security adviser for President Moon Jae-in.
The adviser, known as a mentor for President Moon, said a diplomatic breakthrough is needed in the stalled denuclearization talks, and the U.S. can now provide it.
"Trade relations between the U.S. and China seem to be getting worse. This is not a good scenario for stability on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," Moon Chung-in said during a security forum recently held in Beijing.
"If Xi tells Trump something that will help ease sanctions against North Korea, then that will be greatly appreciated."
Moon continued, "I sincerely hope the leaders agree on 'something big to change,' to resolve their deepening trade friction, which I believe will be clearly helpful to break the current standoff on that North Korea issue."
The United States and China still have different views over the specifics on how to addressing the North Korea issue.
Washington is keeping its "maximum pressure" on North Korea by saying any adjustments would be possible only after the North's additional and detailed announcement to completely scrap its nuclear programs. But China says the United States and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) need to consider invoking provisions on the lifting of sanctions given the recent changes in Pyongyang's focus.
Xi accepted Trump's offer to host a casual dinner next month after the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, sources said, adding Trump was "very keen" to reach a deal with Xi.
Adviser Moon said he agreed with the "three principles," initially raised by the Chinese leader, in terms of advancing the denuclearization talks through engagement and dialogue.
Mentioning the three criteria ― addressing all pending issues via denuclearization on the peninsula, negotiation and peace with stability on the peninsula ― the presidential adviser said South Korea strongly backs the initiatives.
"I don't think issues over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) would be an obstacle to negatively affect relations between China and South Korea. As agreed, THAAD will not be included in the U.S.-led missile defense system. Once the peninsula has peace, we don't need to deploy THAAD," the adviser said.
Adviser Moon stressed the North awaits conciliatory measures from the United States because its leader Kim Jong-un "clearly told" President Moon that his regime can drop nuclear weapons for economy, only if conditions are met.
"What we have to focus on is how to manage and control the denuclearization process. If the North dismantles its nuclear warheads, then the stakeholders can encourage Pyongyang to disband its short-range and middle-range missiles by providing some financial assistance. Having a pessimistic view over the North's repeated commitment toward scrapping its nuclear programs isn't helpful in terms of seeing progress in the talks," according to adviser Moon.
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