SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean President Moon Jae[1]-in said Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed in the rivals’ surprise meeting to sitting down with President Donald Trump[2] and to a “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The Korean leaders’ second summit in a month Saturday saw bear hugs and broad smiles, but their quickly arranged meeting appears to highlight a sense of urgency on both sides of the world’s most heavily armed border.
At the White House, Trump[3] said negotiations over a potential June 12 summit with Kim[4] that he had earlier canceled are “going along very well.” Trump[5] told reporters that they are still considering Singapore as the venue for their talks. He said there is a “lot of good will” and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would be “a great thing.”
The Koreas’ talks, which Moon[6] said Kim[7] requested, capped a whirlwind 24 hours of diplomatic back-and-forth. It allowed Moon[8] to push for a U.S.-North Korean summit that he sees as the best way to ease animosity that had some fearing a war last year. Kim[9] may see the sit-down with Trump[10] as necessary to easing pressure from crushing sanctions and to winning security assurances in a region surrounded by enemies.
Moon[11] told reporters Sunday that Kim[12] “again made clear his commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and told the South Korean leader that he’s willing to cooperate to end confrontation for the sake of the successful North Korea[13]-U.S. summit. Moon[14] said he told Kim[15] that Trump[16] has a “firm resolve” to end hostile relations with North Korea[17] and initiate economic cooperation if Kim[18] implements “complete denuclearization.”
“What Kim[19] is unclear about is that he has concerns about whether his country can surely trust the United States over its promise to end hostile relations (with North Korea[20]) and provide a security guarantee if they do denuclearization,” Moon[21] said. “During the South Korea[22]-U.S. summit, President Trump[23] said the U.S. is willing to clearly put an end to hostile relations (between the U.S. and North Korea[24]) and help (the North) achieve economic prosperity if North Korea[25] conducts denuclearization.”
Kim[26], in a telling line from a dispatch issued by the North’s state-run news service on Sunday, “expressed his fixed will on the historic (North Korea[27])-U.S. summit talks.” The two Korean leaders agreed to “positively cooperate with each other as ever to improve (North Korea[28])-U.S. relations and establish (a) mechanism for permanent and durable peace.”...