June12,2018:U.S.PresidentDonaldTrumpmeetswiththetopleaderoftheDemocraticPeople鈥檚RepublicofKoreaKimJongUninSingapore.XinhuaTheTrump-KimsummitonJune12inSingaporebrokethroughoverhalfacenturyofhostilitybetweentheUnitedStatesandtheDemocraticPeople鈥檚RepublicofKorea(DPRK)andmarkedthefirsttimeasittingU.S.presidentmetface-to-facewiththetopleaderofDPRKoverthepastdecades.Despitethefrequentrhetoricalexchangeslastyearandturbulentleaduptothemeeting,thehistoricsummitisexpectedtohelpacceleratedenuclearizationoftheKoreanPeninsulathroughpoliticalsolutions.
Thissensationalmeetingaimedtofosterasenseofsecurity.鈥淛ustlanded鈥攁longtrip,buteverybodycannowfeelmuchsaferthanthedayItookoffice,鈥漈rumptweetedonJune13ashewentbacktoWashingtonDC.鈥淭hereisnolongeraNuclearThreatfromNorthKorea.鈥漈hisevidencesthatforanycountry,securityisalwaysoneofthemostpressingneeds.
Onceisolatedfromtheinternationalcommunity,DPRKwasfacingstiflingsanctionsimposedbytheU.S.andpressurefromthejointmilitaryexercisesinvolvingtheU.S.,Japan,andSouthKorea,leavingDPRKvulnerabletopressurefromtheU.S.,theonlysuperpowerintheworld.InhisbookParallaxVisions:MakingSenseofAmerican-EastAsianRelations,BruceCumings,professorofthehistorydepartmentattheUniversityofChicago,arguedthattheU.S.鈥檔uclearthreatgaveDPRKajustifiablereasontoconductitsnucleartesting.ForDPRK,thedrivetodevelopnuclearweaponswasnottousethem,butasadeterrenceaggravatedbyoutsidepressure.Today,DPRKhasincreasingdemandforeconomicdevelopmentandimprovingpeople鈥檚livelihood,soitcravesforapeacefulandstableenvironment.
FromtheperspectiveoftheU.S.,long-runningsanctionsandpressurefailedtoforceDPRKtogiveupdevelopingnuclearweapons.Intheautumnof2017afterDPRKcompleteditssixthnucleartest,itlaunchedaninter-continentalballisticmissilethatanalystsdeemedcapableofreachingtheU.S.So,thetraditionalmodelofrejectingdialoguewithDPRKcouldnotguaranteeAmericansecurity.EventhoughTrumponcethreatened鈥渇ireandfury鈥漚gainstDPRK,heneededtotakenewstrategiesforopportunitiestofindsolutionstothisissue.
Eventhoughsubstantialmeasureswerenotlistedonpaper,theTrumpKimsummiteasedtensionsontheKoreanPeninsulafornow,awin-winoutcomeforbothcountries.Intheirjointagreement,thetwopartiesagreedtoestablisha鈥渘ewtypeofDPRK-U.S.relations鈥漚ndbuilda鈥減ermanentanddurablepeace-keepingmechanismontheKoreanPeninsula,鈥漚chieve鈥渇ulldenuclearizationontheKoreanPeninsula鈥漚ndpromotepeaceandprosperity.Previously,Washingtoninsistedon鈥渃omplete,verifiableandirreversibledenuclearization鈥漺hilePyongyangsaiditonlyaccepted鈥減hased,simultaneousactionstowarddenuclearization.鈥漀eitherversionwaswrittenintotheagreement,evidencingcompromisefrombothsides.Compromiseisoneofthekeyreasonsthatdialogueisnecessaryinthefirstplace.ThepositiveeffectsoftheTrumpKimsummitcanbeattributedtobothparties鈥檞illingnesstocompromise,whichalloweddialoguetobeheldonmoreequalfooting.
ChinahasalwaysremainedcommittedtothedenuclearizationoftheKoreanPeninsula,maintainingpeaceandstabilityonthepeninsulaandpeacefullyresolvingtheKoreannuclearissuethroughpoliticaltalks.鈥淎chievingdenuclearizationoftheKoreanPeninsula,endinghostilityandconfrontationthathaslastedformorethansixdecades,andseekinglastingpeaceandprosperityonthepeninsulaandintheregionkeepabreastofthetrendsofthetimes,andmeetthecommonaspirationoftheinternationalcommunity,鈥漜ommentedtheChineseMinistryofForeignAffairsinastatement.
Hostilechessmoveshurtsecurityofbothsides.OnlywhenleadersfromtheU.S.andDPRKstrengthenmutualtrust,maintaindialogueandtransformconsensusintoconcreteandconcertedmeasuresthroughfurthernegotiationscanthis鈥渟ense鈥漮fsecuritybecomerealsecurity.Andonlywheneachother鈥檚securitydemandsarefullyrespecteddoesapathtopeaceonaKoreanPeninsulaemerge.