Koreas set bold goals: Peace by year’s end and no nuclear arms

SEOUL — The leaders of North and South Korea embraced on Friday (April 27) after pledging to work for the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", on a day of smiles and handshakes at the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

The two Koreas announced they would work with the United States and China this year to declare an official end to the 1950s Korean War and seek an agreement to establish "permanent" and "solid" peace.

The declaration included promises to pursue phased arms reduction, cease hostile acts, transform their fortified border into a peace zone and seek multilateral talks with other countries including the US.

"The two leaders declare before our people of 80 million and the entire world there will be no more war on the Korean peninsula and a new age of peace has begun," the two sides said in a statement signed by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, and the South’s president, Moon Jae-in, after their meeting at the border village of Panmunjom.

"The South and the North confirmed their joint goal of realising a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearisation."

Mr Moon agreed to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this year, the statement said.

Earlier, Mr Kim became the first North Korean leader since the 1950-53 Korean War to set foot in South Korea after shaking hands with his counterpart over a concrete curb marking the border in the heavily fortified demilitarised zone.

Scenes of Mr Moon and Mr Kim joking and walking together marked a striking contrast to last year's barrage of North Korean missile tests and its largest ever nuclear test that led to sweeping international sanctions and fears of war.

Their meeting comes weeks before Mr Kim is due to meet US President Donald Trump in what would be the first ever meeting between sitting leaders of the two countries.

Mr Trump welcomed the Korean talks and said the US “should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea".

China welcomed the leaders' statement and said it was willing to keep playing a proactive role in promoting political solutions on the peninsula.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also welcomed the summit and said he expected North Korea to take concrete steps to carry out its promises.

Global markets were lifted by hopes the summit would pave the way for the end of conflict on the Korean peninsula. Shares in Seoul briefly rose more than 1 per cent to a one-month high and Japan's Nikkei share average also gained.

As part of efforts to reduce tension, the two sides agreed to open a liaison office, stop propaganda broadcasts and leaflet drops along the border and allow Korean families divided by the border to meet.

Days before the summit, Mr Kim said North Korea would suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantle its only known nuclear test site.

But there has been widespread scepticism about whether Mr Kim is ready to abandon the nuclear arsenal his country has developed for decades, justifying it as a necessary deterrent against U.S. invasion.

"Everything will not be resolved in the blink of an eye," said Kim Young-hee, a North Korean defector-turned-economist at the Korea Development Bank.

"Kim Jong Un has put the ball in the US court. He declared denuclearistion, and promised to halt nuclear tests," she said.

"That tells us he wants the United States to guarantee the safety of his regime ... in return for denuclearisation."

Daniel Russel, a former US assistant secretary of state, said the leaders’ declaration included “a few process-heavy specifics”, such as opening liaison offices, field joint sports teams, hold a May meeting of Defense Ministers, and conduct a family reunion meeting in August.

“It calls for discussions on a peace treaty and grandly pledges cessation of ‘all hostile acts’,” he said.

“Otherwise it largely recycles the aspirational language of preceding Inter-Korean documents. It falls short of the explicit commitments to denuclearization in some past declarations or in the Six-Party Talks agreements.”

It is not the first time leaders of North and South Korea have declared hopes for peace. Two earlier summits, in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, failed to halt the North's weapons programmes or improve relations in a lasting way.

The leaders' statement on Friday on a "common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," stopped short of the "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearnisation" long sought by the US and its allies.

The statement didn't elaborate on what the term meant and Mr Kim didn't personally utter the word during remarks on Friday.

"We have agreed to share a firm determination to open a new era in which all Korean people enjoy prosperity and happiness on a peaceful land without war," Mr Kim told reporters.

"We will make efforts to create good results by communicating closely, in order to make sure our agreement signed today before the entire world, will not end as just a beginning like previous agreements before today," Mr Kim said after the agreement was signed.

FIRST ACROSS THE LINE

Earlier, Mr Moon greeted Mr Kim at the military demarcation line where the men smiled and shook hands.

In an unplanned move, Mr Kim invited Mr Moon to step briefly across into North Korea, before the two leaders crossed back into South Korea holding hands.

"I was excited to meet at this historic place and it is really moving that you came all the way to the demarcation line to greet me in person," Mr Kim said, wearing his customary black Mao suit.

"A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history," Mr Kim wrote in Korean in a guest book in the South's Peace House before talks began.

The meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Moon was marked by some surprisingly candid moments but also sweeping pledges, with Mr Kim saying, “I came here to put an end to the history of confrontation.”

Mr Yoon Young-chan, Mr Moon’s spokesman, said Mr Kim acknowledged the poor road conditions in his country, a startling admission for a member of his ruling family, which is considered godlike and faultless among North Koreans.

Mr Kim also revealed that the North Koreans who visited the South during the Winter Olympics in February all admired the bullet train there.

After Mr Moon spoke of wanting to visit North Korea, Mr Kim said, “It will be very embarrassing,” alluding to the roads in his country.

Mr Kim also repeated a lighthearted line he had used in his meeting with South Korean envoys in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last month, apologising to Mr Moon for disturbing his sleep with missile tests and forcing him to attend meetings of his National Security Council.

“I heard you had your early morning sleep disturbed many times because you had to attend the NSC meetings because of us,” Mr Kim said.

“Getting up early in the morning must have become a habit for you. I will make sure that your morning sleep won’t be disturbed.”

Mr Moon joked back: “Now I can sleep in peace.”

Mr Moon also offered some capitalistic carrots, reminding Mr Kim that South Korea had in years past promised huge investments to help improve the North’s road and train systems. Those agreements eventually collapsed as the North persisted in developing nuclear weapons.

During their morning talks, Mr Kim suggested more summit meetings with Mr Moon, saying that he would like to visit the presidential Blue House in Seoul. He said North Korea would cooperate to make a “better world.”

But he also voiced caution, suggesting South Korea and the US deserved blame for scuttling previous deals.

“As the expectations are high, so is the skepticism,” he said. “In the past, we had reached big agreements, but they were not implemented for more than 10 years. There are people who are skeptical that the results of today’s meeting will be properly implemented.”

Mr Moon and Mr Kim released their joint declaration before attending a dinner banquet.

The United States was hopeful talks would make progress on achieving peace and prosperity, the White House said in a statement as the two men began their summit.

The White House also said it looked forward to continuing discussions with South Korea in preparation for the planned meeting of Mr Trump and Mr Kim in coming weeks.

Just months ago, Mr Trump and Mr Kim were trading threats and insults as the North made rapid advances in pursuit of nuclear-armed missiles capable of hitting the US.

The US stations 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The war pitted the South, United Nations and US forces against the communist North, backed by China and Russia.

Mr Kim and Mr Trump are expected to meet in late May or June.

Mr Trump said on Thursday he was considering several dates and venues. AGENCIES