In a historic leap of faith, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un completely reoriented the diplomatic landscape of the Korean peninsula. After his day-long summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, both leaders signed the Panmunjom declaration, in which both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
They also agreed to make Korea a conflict-free zone by improving military-to-military contact, and reducing their conventional weapons. They declared that permanent peace on the Korean peninsula would be their mission. "The South and the North reaffirmed their agreement of non-aggression that they will not use any form of force against each other and agreed to strictly abide by the agreement," said the joint declaration. To discuss additional peace building measures, the two countries will hold general-level military talks by next month.
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Addressing the media, President Moon specifically pointed out that denuclearisation is one of the key goals for both Koreas. "Today, Chairman Kim and I affirmed that realising a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearisation is our mutual goal. I clearly state that the South and the North will more closely cooperate for complete denuclearisation," said Moon. Kim, however, was silent on the issue during the press conference. He, perhaps, had his domestic audience in mind and did not refer to any of the concessions offered in the declaration during his address to the media.
The details of denuclearisation has also not been spelt out. Neither the degree of denuclearisation, nor its conditions and verifiability have been disclosed. Perhaps, it is now up to US President Donald Trump to flesh out the details during his likely summit with Kim.
This was the first time the two Koreas had issued a joint statement after their summit. After a 100-minute-long session in the morning, the two delegations took lunch separately in order to have private discussions. After the lunch break, the two leaders met again and in a ceremonial function added soil to a pine tree and unveiled a plaque. Later, they took a short walk and held a private discussion for about half an hour without the presence of their aides. The joint declaration came soon after this.
Yet another major announcement was the plan to conclude a formal peace treaty, marking the end of the Korean war. Since South Korea has not signed the armistice agreement, the two countries are still technically in a state of war. So, it has been decided to conclude a formal treaty by opening negotiations with the United States and China, which are the two other parties to the war.
The two sides also agreed to set up a liaison office at Kaesong in North Korea near the border to improve inter-Korean cooperation and facilitate and expedite long-stalled reunions of families separated by the division of the two Koreas. The reunions are likely to begin from August 15, the Korean Liberation day, celebrating the two countries’ independence from Japan.
A decision has also been made to send joint teams to major sports events, starting with the Asian Games later this year. The two countries also decided to sustain high level contacts with each other. President Moon will visit Pyongyang this year.
In his first ever speech to the world, and possibly his first speech which was telecast live, Kim Jong-un thanked Moon and the South Korean people for their warm welcome. “As I stand here today I can see that South and North Koreans are the same people, they cannot be separated…. We are the same people and should live in unity. I hope we will be able to live very peacefully in the future, as soon as possible.” And, he expressed hope that one day ordinary citizens across the peninsula would be able to use the same road that he had taken to reach Panmunjom.
Once the joint address was over, Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, arrived from across the border and she was received by the South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook. “I’m happy to hear from my husband that the summit was a success,” she said.
And, it was indeed a success, especially for South Korea, and personally for President Moon, with most of the items on his agenda being addressed in the summit.