South Korea gave a major sigh of relief Saturday after the White House revived plans for a landmark summit with North Korea that has already stirred new openings between Seoul and Kim Jong Un’s regime.
A statement from South Korea’s presidential Blue House said “the road to a summit between North Korea and the United States appears to have expanded and strengthened” after a top envoy for Kim held meetings in Washington with President Donald Trump on Friday and hand-delivered a letter from the North Korean leader.
“We will excitedly, but calmly, look forward to their historic meeting in Singapore,” said a spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The South Korean reaction is also notable for what it leaves out. South Korea has been cautious not to set clear expectations for the planned June 12 summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim. There are too many potential pitfalls in the mix, led by how far the North is willing to make concessions over its nuclear program in exchange for a possible easing of economic sanctions and other incentives from the United States and allies such as South Korea.
Moon also has staked his political credibility as a key broker between Kim and the Trump administration. So far, the whiplash events over the summit – canceled by Trump last week and restored Friday – have put the South Korean president center stage with outreach to the North, including a hastily arranged face-to-face meeting with Kim.
Just in the past days, envoys from both sides of the divided peninsula have agreed to a host of goodwill gestures. They include military talks planned for June 14 in the truce village of Panmunjom, and discussions set for June 22 in the North’s Mount Kumgang resort on holding reunions for families separated by the Korean War more than 60 years ago.
At a gathering of defense chiefs in Singapore, South Korea’s defense minister, Song Young-moo, also planned Saturday to emphasize the South’s peace efforts to an audience that includes Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and military officials from China, which is deeply involved in North Korea as the country’s chief economic lifeline.
There was no immediate reaction from North Korea’s tightly controlled state media after the meetings in Washington between Trump and Kim’s personal liaison, Kim Yong Chol, the vice chairman of the central committee for the North’s ruling party. But contrasting messages have emerged from the North in recent days amid the scramble to save the summit.
After talks with a South Korean team, the North’s chief negotiator, Ri Son-gwon, described both nations as “the wheels that move the cart forward” toward peace, according to the South’s official Yonhap news agency. On Thursday, meanwhile, the North Korean leader Kim complained to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, about “U.S. hegemonism” and suggested he wanted to expand ties with Moscow as a buffer against Washington.
Any hints of greater cooperation between Kim’s regime and Moscow could set off alarms in the Trump administration and bring new complications to the planned summit.
On Friday, China welcomed the prospect of greater Russian involvement in North Korea. “It plays an important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region and advocates a peaceful and diplomatic solution of the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.
“We are also confident that stable development of relations between Russia and North Korea makes a contribution to settling the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear issue and maintaining peace and stability in the region,” she said.
Joel Wit, who follows North Korean affairs as a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said Pyongyang knows that any economic advances will come mostly from countries in the region rather than from possible U.S. aid or investment if peace efforts move forward.
“That’s the whole game,” said Wit. “North Korea is looking out for its security concerns. This is what it wants from the U.S. It’s not yet about the economy. That will come from the countries like South Korea and China. This summit is mostly about security for the North.”
Mattis, at the Singapore defense conference, said Trump will not discuss any possible reductions in U.S. troop levels in South Korea at the summit with Kim. Mattis said such talks about could be held later with South Korea if the summit makes progress in Washington’s view.
In Seoul, about two dozens protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, holding signs calling for a permanent end to U.S. military exercises and a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea.
Trump is taking a “two-track” approach toward North Korea, the protesters said. Despite Trump’s willingness to meet with Kim, the United States continues to hold military drills with South Korea, they said.
“This is the time to pursue peace,” one protester demanded through a megaphone, “but the United States continues to pursue military exercises.”
