Are the Koreas finally on a path to peace?
In a historic summit meeting on April 27, 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula and seek a permanent end to the 1950s Korean war.
In a theatrical series of events surrounded by cameras, the leaders hugged, shook hands,
and even planted a unity pine tree using soil and water from both countries.
But some experts argue that until the commitments from both leaders translate into policy…
it could be too soon to celebrate.
I’m Versha, this is NowThis World, and on this episode, we’re diving into what happened
at the meeting at the demilitarized zone, and what this could mean for the future North
and South Korea.
“Today, chairman Kim Jong Un and I confirmed that it was our shared goal to realise a nuclear-free
Korean peninsula through complete denuclearisation.”
The meeting was full of both concrete and symbolic significance.
In the first Inter-Korean summit in more than a decade, the leaders met in the truce village
of Panmunjom, where the Korean Armistice was signed in 1953.
Armistice was designed to be a temporary ceasefire measure until a peace agreement could be reached.
Spoiler alert -- It never was.
But now, it looks like that official peace treaty could be on the horizon.
Following an half hour of intense, private conversation out of reach of reporter’s
microphones, the two korean leaders sat side-by-side and signed the Panmunjom Declaration.
Here’s what it said:
The Koreas will pursue peace talks with China and the U.S., as well as seek support from
the international community to completely denuclearize the region.
That would be a big deal, considering just months ago, Kim warned the U.S. that North
Korea’s nuclear forces were a reality, and not an empty threat.
Though - as experts have pointed out - the agreement doesn’t signal precisely how they
intend to denuclearize.
Throughout 2017, he tested intercontinental ballistic missiles reportedly powerful enough
to reach the U.S. mainland, and a nuclear bomb seven times stronger than the one the
U.S. dropped on Hiroshima.
“The whole of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear striking range.
The U.S. should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table.
The U.S. must realize that is not a threat but the reality.”
And… remember this?
"North Korea best not make anymore threats to the United States.
They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
The Panmunjom Declaration signals a clear move away from conflict and toward a path
of peace not only with South Korea, but in the greater international landscape.
It also proposes plans to field a joint sports team, turn the DMZ into a “peace zone,”
establish a joint liaison office with resident representatives from both sides, and a commitment
for families divided by the war to reunite.
The leaders also agreed to continue frequent talks in person and on the phone.
In more symbolic moves, Kim Jong-Un became the first North Korean leader to cross the
border into the South since the war.
And, in what appeared to be unscripted move, Kim Jong Un took Moon Jae-in’s hand, inviting
him across the demarcation line into North Korea for a few seconds.
Kim even proclaimed a “new history” between the Koreas, thanked the press, and said he
wanted Koreans to be able to move freely between the North and South.
And, since the talks, North Korea has promised to sync its clocks back with South Korea time,
which was previously set 30 minutes behind the North.
So … what’s the catch?
This puts pressure on the White House, and with Kim holding the cards now, some suggest
he could be using this agreement to drive wedges between South Korea and the U.S., China
and Japan.
Even that Kim might hold the promise of denuclearization in exchange for a reduced American presence
in the South.
Even Trump is holding out, tweeting that the U.S. should be proud of what’s happening
between the Koreas, but that “only time will tell.”
“We’ve heard this kind of talk before, we know that North Korea means something else
by the concept of denuclearization that we think we hear with our Western ears, and I
haven’t seen even any realistic discussion about what would be the first steps…”
“President Trump’s going to have to reign in his more ambitious goals, and yet still
drive a relatively hard line, and not give away too much for an interim or partial agreement.”
It’s true that these talks between the North and South aren’t the first of their kind.
In the 1970s, then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung wrote a letter to U.S. President Jimmy
Carter, proposing a peace treaty with South Korea - and that never materialized.
Similar commitments and calls for action on a peace treaty and denuclearization came in
1992, 1994, 2005, and 2010.
Still, some argue, that the tone of this meeting was just … different.
Kim Jong Un described the people of North and South Korea as “linked by blood as a
family and compatriots who cannot live separately.”
“Great history is not created and recorded by itself but is the essence of the diligent
effort and burning breath of the people of that time.”
So will this Inter-Korean summit prove any different?
Trump has promised to meet with Kim Jong Un, but the outcome of the summit all comes down
to concrete policy steps - and we’ll keep our eyes
on it.