Early morning of April 27,2018, the world saw Kim Jong-un coming with dignity and self confidence toward Moon Jae-in who was waiting…
Early morning of April 27,2018, the world saw Kim Jong-un coming with dignity and self confidence toward Moon Jae-in who was waiting on the south side of the narrow demarcation line separating the Korean peninsula into two parts.. As soon as Kim approached Moon, the two leaders greeted each other with sincere and friendly smile and they shook hands with enthusiasm.
It was, in a way, the handshake of two giant families: the family of fifty million members of South Korea with the family of twenty-five million members of North Korea; it meant the meeting of Juche of the North with liberal democracy of the South.
It represented the victory of Koreans’ dream for reunification over the greed of the vested interest group who exploit the North-South tension for political financial gains.
The world watched the handshake with expectation and fear; the world cheered; the world shed tears
Many cried with relief because they realized that the handshake could mean the liberation from the fear of the global nuclear war which Trump and his hawkish oligarchy could have provoked.
The Kim-Moon handshake shook the world in another way. We saw that Kim Jong-un was not a monster, the image which Western media, intellectuals and politicians have been trying so hard to project.
We saw that he had frank and gentle smile; we noticed that he was a human being like us showing joy and worries; we witnessed that he was listening rather than imposing his own ideas.
The handshake shook the world by making us be aware of how we have had a very negative image of North Korea along with its leaders because of misleading and biased corporate media in the world.
So, the Kim-Moon handshake shook the world. It is fine! It is great!! But we have to ask an important question: “Did the handshake make the summit a success?” There seems to be a general consensus to the effect that the summit was a success. But how successful was it?
A summit would be a success if its objectives are right and it the objectives are attained. There are good reasons to believe that the summit objectives were right and these objectives were well attained.
The Joint Declaration-6.15 was produced at the summit of Kim Dae-jung, president of South Korea with Kim Jong-il, supreme leader of North Korea. This Declaration had four key agreements:
(1) reunification of the Korean peninsula by the Koreans without foreign interventions,
(2) adoption of a sort of con-federal regime of governance,
(3) reunion of separated families,
(4) North-South cooperation in various fields including economic development, cultural and sport activities and promotion of North-South dialogues.
Now, the Declaration-10.04 signed by Rho Moo-hyun, president of South Korea and Kim Jong-il, supreme leader of North Korea had eight key agreements:
(1) faithful implementation of the Declaration-6.15,
(2) mutual respect for sovereignty and joint efforts for the reunification of Koreas,
(3) mutual non-aggression and mutual dialogue to reduce tension and conflict in addition to the transformation of the North Limit Line (NLL) into peaceful joint fishing zone,
(4) replacement of the Armistice prevailing since 1953 with a peace treaty through 3-party talk, or 4-party talk or 6-party talk,
(5) North-South cooperation for investments, resource development and promotion of foreign investment in Special Economic Zones, development of transportation infrastructure including the Gaesung-Sinuiju railroad, the Gaesung-Pyongyang Expressway,
(6) mutual cooperation for the development of various fields including culture, arts, sports, technologies and several other fields,
(7) humanitarian cooperation, especially the reunion of separated families,
(8) mutual cooperation in international affairs.
The Panmunjom Declaration signed by Moon Jae-in, president of South Korea and Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) on April 27,2018 (the Declaration-4.27) was a further elaboration of the two preceding declarations adding a few new agreements. This Declaration has three chapters with several sections in each chapter
In the preface of first chapter, the Declaration emphasizes, in the strongest terms, the importance of the “blood relation” of the two peoples. This aspect of biological link is perhaps the most important part of the whole declaration. Put it differently, this relation means that the two peoples are “one”. This oneness of Koreans who have been cruelly separated by foreign powers has been the theme cultivated throughout the PyongChang Olympics and the Moon-Kim summit. We will see this in greater detail below.
The messages presented in the six sections of the first chapter may be summarized in this manner.
First, the two peoples have a common destiny and they should fully implement the projects defined in the two preceding Declarations.
Second, both sides should hold sustained North South dialogues at all levels.
Third, in order to facilitate the implementation of mutual cooperation, liaison offices should be established in North and South in various fields of activities.
Fourth, North-South human networks organized through visits, exchanges and contacts are encouraged so that cooperation can be facilitated. The creation of unified sport teams is also encouraged to participate at international sport events.
Fifth, the inter-Korea Red Cross meetings are encouraged to organize as soon as possible (August, this year) the reunion of families who were separated because of the Korean War.
Finally, in the sixth section of the first chapter, the implementation of the agreements of the Declaration-10.04 is emphasized, in particular, the construction of highways and railways in North Korea and other projects for economic development
The second chapter of the Declaration-4.27 addresses the issue of military tension. It has three sections.
First, the DMZ will be transformed into a peace zone. For this, the noisy propaganda broadcasting through giant loudspeakers will be stopped. In fact, on April 30th, the removal of whole loud speakers started.
Second, the NLL zone will become, finally, a neutral fishing zone where fishing boats from North and South will catch fish in peace.
Third, liaison offices will be established in North and South in order to facilitate cooperation.
Finally, the third chapter of the Declaration has four sections.
First, both sides reaffirm the non-aggression previously agreed upon.
Second, both agreed to carry out disarmament which will be phased out over a given period of time.
Third, this year (2018) which is the 65th anniversary year of the 1953 Armistice Agreement should be made a year ending the Korean War and producing a peace treaty through multilateral meetings so that, at last, permanent peace can prevail on the Korean peninsula.
In the Declaration-4.27, the fourth section of the third chapter deals with the issue which is perhaps the most difficult part, for it deals with issue of denuclearization. The text reads as follows:
“South and North Korea confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear free Korean peninsula. South and North Korea shared the view that the measures initiated by North Korea are very meaningful and crucial for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and agreed to carry out their respective roles and responsibilities in this regard. South and North Korea agreed to actively seek the support and cooperation of the international community for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
Here, we see two key messages.
First, the initiative of denuclearization was made by Kim Jong-un showing that Pyongyang is sincere regarding denuclearization. The Declaration-4.27 did not elaborate further the denuclearization issue, for it is an issue which should be handled at the coming Washington-Pyongyang summit
Second, we should pay attention to the expression “complete denuclearization” in the above quotation. Many people wonder if this meant the CVID (complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization) solution.
Coming back to the question regarding the success of the Kim-Moon summit, it can be said that it was a great success, for it integrated fully the projects specified in the two previous summits.
