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U.S. negative about declaring end of war within this year

U.S. negative about declaring end of war within this year

Posted July. 16, 2018 07:32,   

Updated July. 16, 2018 07:32

한국어

The Trump administration reportedly has said negatively about the South Korean government’s plan to declare the end of war within this year. The Moon Jae-in administration of South Korea talked of its plan for President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump declaring the end of war in New York in September by the time of the U.N. General Assembly. But it is said that Washington just said, “Let’s see what happens.”

“After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to North Korea, the internal atmosphere and perspective towards Pyongyang’s will to denuclearize have changed,” an insider of the U.S. State Department said in a phone call with The Dong-A Ilbo Saturday (local time). “As a result, it seems unlikely that the United States will declare the end of war that Trump positively considered as an incentive to maintain the current system in the North.”

In particular, the fact that Pompeo left North Korea empty-handed during his visit on July 6 and 7 reportedly affected the mood a lot. “The atmosphere changed dramatically when Trump said he would declare the end of war at the U.S.-North Korea summit although the general trend in the administration was it could not be done before Kim Jong Un shows his determination to denuclearize,” another source in Washington D.C. said. “But that went back to the starting point after Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang.”

As the North started repatriating the remains of U.S. soldiers as agreed upon at the summit in Singapore, working-level discussions on other topics are likely to become more active. “A follow-up discussion between Trump and Kim seems to be underway,” said the source Friday.

Yet, Trump is concentrating on maintaining the momentum created in the U.S.-North Korea talks. “[Kim Jong Un] is very smart, great personality, he’s funny and tough, good negotiator,” said Trump. A source in Washington D.C. said that Trump is mobilizing all diplomatic tactics to gain anything from North Korea before the 2018 midterm election.


Jeong-Hun Park sunshade@donga.com · In-Chan Hwang hic@donga.com