Denuclearization of Korean peninsula - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Japan urges North Korea to jointly break mutual distrust

Straits Times — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 22:53:08 +0000

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday (June 16) called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to jointly overcome their mutual distrust, as he confirmed ongoing efforts to arrange a Japan-North Korea summit.

In a television interview, Mr Abe said his government has contacted the North Korean side “through various channels” in a bid to arrange a meeting with Mr Kim.

During historic talks with US President Donald Trump in Singapore on Tuesday, Mr Kim reportedly said he was open to a meeting with Mr Abe.

Japan wants the talks to push the emotive issue of citizens abducted by the North decades ago, which has seen little movement despite a whirlwind of international diplomacy in recent months.

“I want to take a step forward and resolve the (abduction) issue after each of us breaks our mutual distrust,” Mr Abe said.

“I have a strong sense of mission to resolve the issue under my own responsibility,” he added.

Mr Abe has already said publicly that he would be willing to meet Mr Kim in order to resolve the abduction issue.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is considering talks with his North Korean counterpart on the sidelines of a meeting of Asean envoys in Singapore starting in late July, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

During the interview, Mr Abe expressed a readiness to finance denuclearisation costs in North Korea.

In the joint statement following Tuesday’s talks with Mr Trump, Mr Kim agreed to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.

“It is natural for Japan and other countries which would benefit from easing fears of nuclear weapons to bear the costs,” Mr Abe said.

But Mr Abe warned that Tokyo has no plan to give financial aid to Pyongyang without a resolution of the abduction issue.

The issue of Japanese citizens who were abducted in the 1970s and 1980s to help Pyongyang train its spies has long soured already strained relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

The Japanese government has officially listed 17 people as abductees, but suspects dozens more were snatched.

Japan has maintained a hardline position on North Korea despite the stepped-up diplomacy with Pyongyang in recent months, and has been left largely on the sidelines as South Korea, China and the United States have held talks with Mr Kim.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-urges-north-korea-to-jointly-break-mutual-distrust

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Trump and Kim hold surprise document signing during summit

Fox News — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 06:20:59 +0000

The post Trump and Kim hold surprise document signing during summit first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

North and South Korea pledge to end war, denuclearize peninsula

Stephen Johnson — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 07:50:56 +0000

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean President Kim Jong Un meet in the truce village of Panmunjom (Photo by Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images)

In a historic summit on Friday, the leaders of North and South Korea vowed to officially end the Korean War and work toward the “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” The meeting marks the first time a North Korean leader has crossed the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that separates the nations.

After holding meetings in the border truce village of Panmunjom, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean President Kim Jong Un issued a joint statement pledging to ease military tensions, pursue phased arm reductions, seek peace talks with the U.S., and transform the Demilitarized Zone into a “peace zone.”

“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 declaration said.

Surrounded by officials and photographers, Kim and Moon participated in a tree-planting ceremony. The tree was a pine from 1953, the year the Korean War armistice was signed. Afterward, they walked alone, side by side, to a footbridge where they had a 30-minute conversation, about which no recordings or notes were released.

Photo: Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images

The mood of the meeting appeared to be uncharacteristically peaceful and jovial. Kim even offered up a joke about waking Moon up with early-morning missile tests.

“I will make sure not to interrupt your sleep any more,” Kim said.

But the pledges from the summit were short on concrete details. The Panmunjom Declaration failed to specify the extent of Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, or what Kim expects to receive in exchange for denuclearization–though the answer is likely economic growth.

“He is seeking the kind of rapid economic growth seen in China,” Lee Jong-seok, a former unification minister of South Korea, told the NYTimes. “The North Korea he envisions is different from his father’s North Korea.”

“We have looked only on the nuclear side of Kim Jong-un’s rule, trying hard not to look at the other side. He is ready to bargain away nuclear weapons for the sake of economic development. If he were content with just feeding his people three meals a day, he would not give up his nuclear weapons.”

It remains to be seen whether Pyongyang will follow through on its denuclearization pledge in light of North Korea’s history of breaking agreements with the U.S.

However, the meeting in Panmunjom sets a relatively optimistic tone for the upcoming summit between Kim and President Donald Trump, which is expected to happen in the upcoming months.

Source: http://bigthink.com/stephen-johnson/north-and-south-korea-meeting-in-seoul-pledge-to-end-war-denuclearize-peninsula

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The post North and South Korea pledge to end war, denuclearize peninsula first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.