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Monday, July 01, 2019, 11:36
Seoul hopes Trump-Kim meet helps inter-Korean engagement
By ​Agencies
Monday, July 01, 2019, 11:36 By ​Agencies

In this June 30, 2019, photo provided by the DPRK government, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, left, bids farewell to ROK President Moon Jae-in, right, and US President Donald Trump at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY/KOREA NEWS SERVICE via AP)


UNITED NATIONS/TOKYO/SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) said Monday it hopes the diplomatic momentum created by the latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un would help revive inter-Korean dialogue and engagement that stopped amid a hard impasse in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman for ROK's Unification Ministry, which deals with affairs with DPRK, said the Trump-Kim meeting could breathe new life into the nuclear negotiations and benefit Seoul's efforts to keep alive momentum for talks and cooperation with Pyongyang.

The spokesman for ROK's Unification Ministry, which deals with DPRK affairs, said the Trump-Kim meeting could breathe new life into nuclear talks

DPRK's state media has described Kim's meeting with Trump on Sunday at the Demilitarized Zone as "an amazing event" in the border village it notes is a symbol of the Korean Peninsula's division.

READ MORE: Trump sets foot in DPRK, agrees with Kim to resume talks

DPRK significantly reduced diplomatic activity and exchanges with the South following the summit between Trump and Kim in February that failed over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament. Pyongyang conducted tests of short-range missiles that could potentially threaten the South and demanded that Seoul break away from Washington and resume inter-Korean economic projects held back by US-led sanctions against DPRK.

"Inter-Korean relations have been at a lull since the Hanoi summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea, but the (Seoul) government has continuously worked to maintain a momentum for dialogue and cooperation between the South and North," Lee said.DPRK is also referred to as North Korea and ROK as South Korea.

"Since it's expected that the nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang would bounce back, the government will ... strengthen its efforts to create a virtuous cycle between inter-Korean relations, denuclearization and North Korea-US relations," he said.

The impromptu get-together at the inter-Korean border, where an armistice was signed 66 years ago to stop the fighting of a war that killed or injured millions, was Trump and Kim's third overall meeting and first since the breakdown in Hanoi.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Trump and Kim during their meeting agreed to restart nuclear negotiations and expressed great satisfaction over the result of their talks. The agency said Kim exchanged "warm greetings" with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who accompanied Trump to the border but did not participate in the meeting between the US and DPRK leaders at the ROK side of the Panmunjom truce village.

ROK's presidential office has refused to comment on whether Seoul had a role in setting up the meeting between Trump and Kim at the Korean border.

Moon held three summits with Kim last year and played a pivotal role in brokering the first meeting between Trump and Kim last June in Singapore, where they issued a statement calling for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing how or when it would occur.

The lack of substance and fruitless working-level discussions set up the failure in Hanoi, which the Americans blamed on what they said were excessive DPRK demands for sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of DPRK's nuclear capabilities limited to an aging nuclear facility in Yongbyon.

The latest Trump-Kim summit may have created a momentum for further diplomacy, including working-level talks aimed at hammering out the terms of a mutually acceptable deal, but experts say it remains unclear whether the negotiations would successfully address the fundamental differences between Washington and Pyongyang that were exposed in Hanoi.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday welcomed the announcement that DPRK and the United States will resume working-level dialogue.

In this photo taken on June 30, 2019, US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone that divides the DPRK and the Republic of Korea. (SUSAN WALSH / AP)

"The secretary-general welcomes the meetings in Panmunjom involving the leaders of the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States, particularly the announcement that the DPRK and the United States will resume working-level dialogue," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, said in a statement.

In Tokyo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday Japan supported the US and DPRK's "process" and wished for the latest talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un to result in positive developments, Japanese media reported. 

"I hope that this summit will lead to progress," Abe was quoted by Kyodo News and Jiji Press as telling reporters at the prime minister's official residence. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday welcomed the announcement that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States will resume working-level dialogue.

In Tokyo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe echoed the UN secretary-general when he said on Monday that Japan supported the US and DPRK's "process"

"The secretary-general welcomes the meetings in Panmunjom involving the leaders of the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States, particularly the announcement that the DPRK and the United States will resume working-level dialogue," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, said in a statement.

"The secretary-general fully supports the continued efforts of the parties to establish new relations towards sustainable peace, security and complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

US President Donald Trump reportedly said on Sunday that teams from the United States and the DPRK would start meetings "over the next two or three weeks" for talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program, but said he was in no rush for a deal.

Negotiators will "start a process and we'll see what happens," Trump said after a historic meeting with the DPRK's leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone that divides the DPRK and the ROK.

ALSO READ: Trump, Kim shake hands in DMZ meeting

In Tokyo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday Japan supported the US and DPRK's "process" and wished for the latest talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un to result in positive developments, Japanese media reported. 

"I hope that this summit will lead to progress," Abe was quoted by Kyodo News and Jiji Press as telling reporters at the prime minister's official residence. 


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