Seoul seeks neighbors' backing for Panmunjeom Declaration

President Moon Jae-in is set to hold trilateral and bilateral meetings with leaders of China and Japan on Wednesday, as Seoul pushes for a special declaration supporting the Panmunjeom Declaration.

The meeting, which will be held in Tokyo with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, comes as Seoul scrambles to win the support of neighboring nations to lay the foundations for the upcoming US-North Korea summit. 

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to hold the first ever US-North Korea summit by early June. Washington has yet to disclose the time and location of the meeting, but high-level Seoul officials say that the announcement is expected this week.

Ahead of the trilateral meeting Cheong Wa Dae rejected speculations that the special declaration, if agreed to, would include specific terminologies regarding North Korea’s denuclearization. 

It had been speculated that the expression “complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement” of North Korea’s nuclear program, often referred to as CVID, or a similar term may be included in the special trilateral declaration.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, the negotiations surrounding the special declaration have been focused on winning Beijing and Tokyo’s support for the Panmunjeom Declaration.

The Panmunjeom Declaration, announced at the April 27 inter-Korean summit, states that the two Koreas will seek an end to the Korean War, closer cooperation and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Ahead of his meeting with Abe, Moon stressed the need for Japan’s cooperation in North Korea-related matters in an interview with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun.

“Japan could play a very important role for peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula. This is true in many aspects such as South Korea-US-Japan cooperation for complete denuclearization and normalization of North Korea-Japan relations to guarantee the safety of the North Korean regime,” Moon said, according to the script of the interview provided by Cheong Wa Dae.

“In particular, I think that North Korea-Japan dialogue should be resumed. Normalization of North Korea-Japan relations would be a big contribution to peace and stability of Northeast Asia.”

The South Korean president reiterated that he discussed Pyongyang-Tokyo relations with Kim, and that the North Korean leader expressed willingness to engage Japan in dialogue.

Moon also touched on the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, saying that he raised the issue with Kim and that he hopes for Pyongyang and Tokyo to cooperate in resolving the matter.

North Korea is thought to have abducted a number of Japanese nationals, 17 by official count, during the 1970s and the 1980s. North Korea has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens, and repatriated five individuals.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)