[Newsmaker] N. Korea denuclearization a step toward end-of-war declaration: Pompeo

North Korea’s denuclearization would ultimately lead to the declaration of an official end to the Korean War, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

The two Koreas are still at war, having signed no peace treaty to end the 1950-53 conflict.

Pompeo was addressing questions about whether ending the war would be feasible without the North’s disarmament. President Moon Jae-in has repeatedly called for an end-of-war declaration.

The top US diplomat again urged Pyongyang to come back to the nuclear talks, saying this would lead to the declaration President Moon was speaking of.

President Moon said early this month that the declaration would mark the first step toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and called on the US and the international community to help achieve it.

On Tuesday, former US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks said such a declaration is worthy of consideration and of taking some risk, if it means a change in the status quo.

“It allows South Korea to approach North Korea in a certain way. It allows changes in the military posture in both places, including the commitment of US forces,” Brooks told a webinar hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies.

But Brooks noted that the US and the West share concerns that pushing for the declaration could undermine sanctions and the pressure and engagement campaign on the North, which could “simply pocket it.”

He added that Pyongyang poses a “much greater concern” for Seoul and the alliance, referring to the array of modernized weapons system the communist regime revealed at the Oct. 10 military parade.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)