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| South Korean foreign ministry's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs Lee Do-hoon speaks about his analysis upon the agreed terms for North Korea's denuclearization from the latest inter-Korean Pyongyang summit at Main Press Center inside Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
South Korea's chief nuclear envoy voiced expectations Thursday that Seoul will go beyond its mediation role between Washington and Pyongyang to play an "active" role in efforts to denuclearize the peninsula.
Lee Do-hoon, the foreign ministry's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remarks a day after the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his commitment to nuclear disarmament.
"(South Korea's) role has so far been that of a stepping stone or a guide (in the denuclearization process) ... but we think we can play an active role beyond that role," Lee said at a press center set up for this week's summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim.
It is the first time that the denuclearization issue has made it to the official agenda for a cross-border summit. In the past, Pyongyang refused to discuss the nuclear issue with Seoul, arguing it is only an issue to be settled through dialogue with Washington.
But the communist state agreed to the denuclearization agenda, as Moon has served as a go-between to facilitate negotiations between the United States and North Korea, based upon trust he has built with Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
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| In this April 15, 2017, file photo, an unidentified missile that analysts believe could be the North Korean Hwasong-12 is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the missile fired Sunday, May 14, 2017, was a Hwasong-12 "capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead." The Hwasong-10 appeared in the military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017, followed by this unidentified missile. Korea Times file |
Noting the positive atmospherics from the latest cross-border summit, Lee stressed the need to make the best of the "crucial opportunity" to spur the denuclearization efforts that had faltered amid differences between the U.S. and the North over the sequencing of the disarmament process.
"I think this period of time .... it is a crucial opportunity that we cannot miss out on," the envoy said. "Our foreign ministry and government will make all-out efforts in all processes."
During the latest inter-Korean summit, the North Korean leader agreed to dismantle a key long-range rocket engine test site in the presence of international inspectors and possibly shut down the main Yongbyon nuclear compound should the U.S. take "corresponding measures."
Lee hailed the agreement, saying that such a progress will be "very conducive" for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
Pyongyang has demanded the political declaration apparently as a way to ensure the security of its regime, whereas Washington maintains that the North should first take tangible denuclearization steps, such as a full declaration of its nuclear arsenal.
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| North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test facility is shown in this DigitalGlobe satellite image in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, May 23, 2018. Korea Times file |
"Our position is that the end-of-war declaration will facilitate the denuclearization efforts," Lee said. "With such progress (from this week's summit), I think the conditions have become very conducive for the declaration."
Underscoring the North Korean leader's direct mention of the denuclearization goal in a live broadcast, Lee said that the efficacy of a "top-down" method of negotiations has been proven. In the past, working-level officials engaged in grueling drawn-out negotiations that eventually fell apart.
"This time, it is important to note that (the two sides) agreed on practical measures to flesh out their resolve (for denuclearization)," he said. "In the past, the North did not publicly unveil its position (on the denuclearization) at the top level."
Lee also said that the North's Dongchang-ri missile launch site and Yongbyon nuclear complex comprise a "considerable part" of Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.
At the latest cross-border summit, the North agreed to dismantle the missile engine test facility and launching pad in Dongchang-ri in the presence of international inspectors and close the Yongbyon complex should the U.S. take "corresponding measures."
"Should the facilities be permanently dismantled, we will enter untrodden ground that we have never walked on during the 30-year period since the early 1990s, when the North's nuclear crisis began," he said. (Yonhap)
