Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in visited the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation on Thursday for a show of unity after their North-South summit gave new momentum to Pyongyang’s negotiations with Washington.
The North Korean leader on Wednesday agreed to shutter the Tongchang-ri missile-testing site in the presence of international observers, a move the U.S. welcomed by saying it was ready for immediate talks aimed at denuclearising the North.
Pyongyang also said it could dismantle its best-known nuclear facility at Yongbyon, if the U.S. takes “corresponding measures”, as Mr. Kim and the South Korean President held their third summit this year.
It is an important caveat — Mr. Moon told reporters on his return to Seoul that the U.S. would need to “end hostile relations with North Korea and provide security guarantees for the North Korean regime”.
But the declaration appeared to break the North’s logjam with Washington.
President Donald Trump welcomed the move, tweeting that Mr. Kim had “agreed to allow Nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations”, adding: “Very exciting!”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also praised the “important commitments”, saying he invited his North Korean counterpart to talk next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and representatives of both sides to meet “at the earliest opportunity” in Vienna — home of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Washington was ready to “engage immediately in negotiations” to achieve the North’s denuclearisation by January 2021, Mr. Pompeo added — the end of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Second summit
Mr. Kim was hoping for a second summit with Mr. Trump “at an early date”, Mr. Moon said in Seoul after concluding his three-day trip, adding he would take the U.S. President a message from Mr. Kim when he meets him himself next week.
The nuclear discussions had stalled after the first historic summit between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim in Singapore in June, when Mr. Kim declared his backing for denuclearisation of the peninsula but no details were agreed.
Washington and Pyongyang have subsequently sparred over what that means and how it will be achieved, with the Trump administration consistently referring to the denuclearisation of North Korea specifically. Experts remain sceptical, pointing out that closing Tongchang-ri, also known as Sohae, would have no impact on the North’s ability to manufacture rockets.
Pyongyang has used several other locations for missile launches and has repeatedly said it has no need for further testing.
Many also believe the North has other covert nuclear facilities. “The North Koreans are offering gestures that mimic disarmament,” arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis tweeted.
Peak diplomacy
At their Pyongyang summit, Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim agreed that the North Korean leader will visit Seoul “at an early date”.
It would be the first such trip by a North Korean leader since the Korean War ended in an armistice, leaving the peninsula divided and technically still in a state of war, and Mr. Moon said the historic journey could happen later this year.
The two leaders also agreed to open a permanent facility for family reunions, work towards joining up road and rail links, and bid jointly for the 2032 Olympics.
At a performance of the North’s spectacular “Mass Games” propaganda display, Mr. Moon made an unprecedented address by a South Korean leader to a Northern crowd, telling them that Koreans had lived together for 5,000 years.
On Thursday, Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim, accompanied by their wives, visited Mount Paektu on the Chinese border.
The 2,744-metre peak is considered sacred by all Koreans as the birthplace of Dangun, the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom.
According to Pyongyang's narrative, it is also where Mr. Kim’s father Kim Jong-il was born, at a secret camp where his own father Kim Il-sung, the North’s founder, was fighting Korea’s Japanese colonial occupiers. But historians say Kim Jong Il was born in the Soviet Union, where his father was in exile.
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