NK leader was ‘bold and frank’
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seen reading a letter from South Korean President
Moon Jae-in on a North Korean TV program aired Tuesday. / Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spoke “boldly and frankly” when he met President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys, sources said Wednesday.
“The South’s high-level delegation quoted Kim as saying the North does not have to secure nuclear weapons once the regime’s security is guaranteed,” an official from Cheong Wa Dae said. “The envoy also said his first impression of Kim was frank and bold.”
The young reclusive leader also did not avoid answering the envoy’s questions on what he might consider sensitive issues.
This is the first time Kim has had a face-to-face meeting with a South Korean delegation since taking office in December 2011.
The South had, for this reason, taken a cautious approach to the regime before the envoy’s two-day visit to the North, which started Monday.
But the presidential office said both sides were able to reach a consensus on a series of pending issues due to the open and direct talks. They include the location and timeline for the coming inter-Korean summit and the regime’s stance on the growing international calls for North Korea’s denuclearization.
The South Korean delegation — led by Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidential National Security Office — said the two Koreas agreed to hold a summit at the Peace House in the southern part of the truce village of Panmunjeom sometime late next month.
This will also mark the first time any of the regime’s leaders have visited the southern side of the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.
Seoul and Pyongyang also agreed to open a hotline between the leaders of the two Koreas in an apparent move to reduce military tension.
After ending the two-day visit to Pyongyang, two of the delegation — Chung and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon — will go to Washington for a meeting with officials and U.S. President Donald Trump, today.
They are expected to express the regime’s stance on a possible Washington-Pyongyang dialogue.
Given the latest remarks from Kim, some commentators raised the possibility of a summit between the U.S. and the North.
Trump, for his part, expressed the country’s willingness to have talks with North Korea once the latter agrees to make efforts for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said there was a chance of a summit between Trump and Kim.
“This is not the first time Washington and Pyongyang were in the mood for dialogue, so it is not absurd to say they can hold a summit in the near future,” he said. The two sides agreed to have talks in 2012, which ended in failure.
“The possible U.S.-North Korea summit will be conducted sometime after the inter-Korean summit next month,” Yang said.
But he said the South should pay keen attention to Trump’s next moves on North Korea and come up with possible scenarios after the Washington-Pyongyang dialogue.
Source:koreatimes.co.kr