United States President Trump and North Korean President today's meeting document contains four main points
1) The United States and the DPRK [the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
Kim succeeds in getting its aim by stopping United States propaganda that DPKR is an enemy state. It also reflects Kim's desire to focus on economic progress.
2) The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
There is no direct commitment here to formalise those sentiments with a peace treaty to replace the armistice signed at the end of the Korean war in 1953. That would require the involvement of China and other countries that took part in the conflict. As expected, Trump offered “unspecified” security guarantees to North Korea, a gesture whose vagueness matches that of Kim’s commitment to denuclearise.
3) Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
This seems most critical and problematic statement of the both the leaders. It also fails to define what is meant by complete denuclearisation. As Washington and DPRK understand the term differently. In Washington it requires North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions but Kim believes that means that even United States has to with draw its 28,500 troops deployed along South North Korean border.
This seems most critical and problematic statement of the both the leaders. It also fails to define what is meant by complete denuclearisation. As Washington and DPRK understand the term differently. In Washington it requires North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions but Kim believes that means that even United States has to with draw its 28,500 troops deployed along South North Korean border.
4) The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
“Remains of an estimated 5,300 missing American service members are in North Korea and potentially recoverable,” according to Stars and Stripes. “Because of an intensely strained relationship between the two countries, there’s been no successful effort to collect the remains since 2005.”
Talking at press conference President Trump says that "United States will be stopping war games with South Korea".
Talking at press conference President Trump says that "United States will be stopping war games with South Korea".