Moon-Biden joint statement may acknowledge Panmunjeom Declaration

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- A joint statement by Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden after their summit talks at the White House on Friday is likely to acknowledge commitments made by the two Koreas under the Panmunjeom Declaration, according to a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official on Thursday.

“The Panmunjeom Declaration, along with other commitments made between the two Koreas, will be included in the joint statement,” the official told pool reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity. “That recognition shows Washington’s renewed respect for the inter-Korean relations.

“Based on the shared understandings, a new blueprint for South Korea-US relationship could be unveiled to cover the past, present and future of the 70-year-old alliance,” he added.

The remarks come a day before the first face-to-face meeting between Moon and Biden. The South Korean president arrived in the US capital on Wednesday on a five-day working visit.

The Panmunjeom Declaration was signed by Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their first summit at the truce border village in April 2018. The inter-Korean summit was the first in 11 years.

Under the deal, the leaders pledged their commitments to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, along with concrete steps to stop hostile acts against each other. They met two more times that year.

Taking advantage of the peaceful momentum, Moon also facilitated the first-ever summit between the North Korean leader and former President Donald Trump in Singapore in the same year. At that meeting Kim agreed to denuclearize his country, while Trump guaranteed the regime’s safety in return.

But since the breakdown of their second meeting in Hanoi in 2019, diplomacy between the US and North Korea has collapsed, chilling inter-Korean relations as well.

With a leadership transition in the US, Moon has asked the new Biden administration to resume dialogue with the North, suggesting the Singapore agreement as the starting point. But Biden seemed reluctant to recognize the unpopular diplomatic legacy left by his predecessor.

Moon, in his final year in office, has hoped his upcoming summit with Biden might be a turning point in reviving the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea.

Late last month, the US announced the completion of its monthslong policy review on North Korea, indicating a more practical and gradual approach toward the reclusive regime, an approach somewhere between Trump’s “grand bargain” and Obama’s “strategic patience.”

South Korea immediately welcomed the new approach, touting it as the outcome of close consultations between the two allies.

At the Moon-Biden summit, more details of the new US policy are expected to be discussed, along with other pending issues such as COVID-19 vaccines, a global chip shortage and climate change.

This is Moon’s fifth visit to the US as president. He is the second foreign leader to hold an in-person summit with Biden. Their summit meeting will be followed by a press conference later in the day.

By Joint Press Corps and Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)