The historic summit between North and South Korean leaders turned out to be short on specifics, but that might be a good thing for President…
The historic summit between North and South Korean leaders turned out to be short on specifics, but that might be a good thing for President Trump as he readies for his own unprecedented meeting with Kim Jong Un in coming weeks, analysts said.
The meeting between South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Kim produced plenty of good will that the Trump administration can build on, but it avoided any clearly defined agreements that could box in the U. S. administration when Trump holds his own meeting with Kim.
A joint statement after the Koreas meeting pledged to pursue denuclearization, which is the key issue for the United States, but didn’t explain how to achieve it.
The two countries “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” according to the joint statement signed by Moon and Kim.
The statement also pledged to “carry out disarmament in a phased manner, as military tension is alleviated and substantial progress is made in military confidence-building.”
The statement doesn’t spell out timelines, an inspection regimen and other details that have doomed previous agreements with North Korea.
“Unless a firm foundation and plan for North Korea’s complete verified irreversible nuclear disarmament is laid out with a relatively short schedule, two to three years, most of the other commitments in the declaration are merely wishes,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security.
Those details will need to be filled in, but Kim’s commitment to denuclearization is a first step that might set favorable conditions for negotiations with Trump, some analysts said.
The promise is significant, said Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, a website that tracks developments in North Korea. “It’s on paper,” she said. “He signed it.”
Town added that there are “tactical reasons that there is a lot of room left for interpretation.”
Moon, the driving force behind efforts to reduce tensions with North Korea, appeared to successfully navigate between Washington and Pyongyang, by avoiding U. S. fears that he might make concessions, such as agreeing to open a joint economic zone with the North, without getting any agreements from Pyongyang in return.
Trump hailed the summit in a couple tweets Friday morning. “After a furious year of missile launches and Nuclear testing, a historic meeting between North and South Korea is now taking place. Good things are happening, but only time will tell!” he said.
Although Moon avoided many specific pledges, the broad promises of economic and political cooperation that emerged from Friday’s summit poses a risk if it prompts China and South Korea to prematurely loosen enforcement of sanctions against North Korea.
“A door can be opened by promising all these things,” he said. That’s why it’s important to move ahead quickly with the meeting with Trump, Albright said.
Trump and Kim have not set a date or time for their meeting, but it is expected in May or June.
“In the end its going to depend on Trump getting a reasonable denuclearization plan,” Albright said.
