ROK envoys head to Beijing, Tokyo and Moscow for briefings on proposed US-DPRK talks

World Today

Kim Jong Un offers to meet Trump: SKoreaROK National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong (L) briefs reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC, announcing DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has offered to meet US President Donald Trump. (AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN)

Envoys from Seoul are preparing to travel to Beijing, Tokyo, and Moscow, as diplomats say they’ll pursue disarmament and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

They’ll discuss an inter-Korean Summit, as well as a planned Trump-Kim meeting.

This follows the announcement from the White House that it will not place any new conditions on the talks.

CGTN’s Toby Muse has details.

Both the White House and the CIA sent the message Sunday that there will be no preconditions on a meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Yong Un–beyond the DPRK’s pledge to abstain from missile and nuclear tests, and not publicly criticize joint military exercises by the U.S. and the Republic of Korea.

“He (Kim Jong Un) can’t conduct nuclear testing, he’s got to stop the missile testing that he’s been hard at for the last years, and he’s got to continue to allow us to perform our militarily-necessary exercises on the peninsula,” said CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

The White House comments come as the international community tries to facilitate this historic meeting. Representatives from the Republic of Korea are preparing to personally give senior officials in Tokyo and Beijing the latest details on the proposed talks.

“I highly appreciate the brave decision of the D-P-R-K’s  leader, Kim Jong Un,” said the director of South Korea’s National Security Office, Chung Eui-Yong. “We will do our best to prepare for the summit between him and our leaders in April, and for the one between him and the U.S., so the meetings will be successful and we can achieve a lot.”

For his part, Trump is praising his global counterparts for their support. In a tweet posted Saturday, he said, “Chinese President Xi Jinping and I spoke at length about the meeting with KIM JONG UN of North Korea. President XI told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!”

It’s unclear where the meeting might take place. Over the weekend, the Swedish Prime Minister offered his country as a possible location.

The White House has said it wants the meeting to lead to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“Look, a lot of people thought we were going to war, and all of a sudden they come in and say we are going to have a meeting, and there are no more missiles going off and they want to denuclearize,” said U.S. President Donald Trump.

Some of Trump’s critics in the US worry that this meeting has been too hastily arranged. But outside the US, the mood seems closer to optimism.