Thursday, September 20, 2018

Finding Peace And Reconciliation On A Korean Mountaintop

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju (L) with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook on the top of Mount Paektu on September 20, 2018 after their summit. Photo: AFP/Pyeongyang Press Corps

Andrew Salmon, Asia Times: Kim deploys bromance diplomacy with Moon on iconic mountain

Hobbled by limited diplomatic firepower, North Korean leader weaponizes charm to win over Moon and Trump

In the latest stage of a relationship that appears to be blossoming far beyond the standards of normal diplomatic conviviality, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday took an expedition, with their wives, to the peak of a famously iconic mountain.

The expedition was mounted after two days of intense summitry in Pyongyang. During the talks, Kim agreed to allow international inspections of the dismantling of a missile engine test site and shut down his main nuclear complex – albeit, the latter move would be conditional upon reciprocal US moves.

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Update: Politics, pride in leaders trip to ‘sacred’ N. Korea volcano (Eric Talmadge, AP)

WNU Editor: Mount Paektu does have a special place for a lot of Koreans. One can only hope that current peace and reconciliation talks on the Korean Peninsula will go beyond just the symbolism of visiting this mountaintop.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If Trump & Moon can get the North to denuke and open up its country, it would be one of the biggest achievements this century. Not only would it make the World and east Asia more secure, but most importantly the millions of North Koreans -could- get a better life. We can all win in this. Even China would win because ultimately American forces would eventually leave the south. So I do hope China really does think long term as everyone claims. Unless of course they want to keep using the north as a playing card against the west. We will find out very soon what China truly wishes. Peace for all or the Chinese way