The Korean Summit on the border last Friday gave rise to optimism for ending 65 years of strained ties in the peninsula. The world media gave a cautious welcome to the Panmunjom Declaration signed by the leaders of North and South Koreas.
The New York Times said the meeting of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the border raises hopes and doubts. In an editorial, the paper said the Panmunjom Declaration signed by the two leaders “was upbeat, promising to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons and to finally negotiate a peace treaty”. The paper added: “The success of that meeting puts pressure on Trump to continue the momentum towards peace by patiently pursuing serious negotiations with North Korea, not making unilateral demands and issuing threats.”
The warm meeting between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in has raised hopes ahead of the Trump summit, the Guardian said, while advising caution. The London-based paper said the historic moment replete with grand pledges and theatrical gestures of friendship looked good in part because things have been very bad. In an editorial, the paper warned: Previous deals have ended in failure. The US, understandably, has deep suspicion about whether North Korea’s engagement drive is merely tactical: is it just buying time while continuing on its course? It is far from clear whether even a freeze of the nuclear programme would be fully verifiable. But even if it offered some kind of security guarantee, North Korea has every reason to distrust the US, with its history of pursuing regime change – and never more so than now.”
Expressing concerns about the astonishing turnaround in recent months, the British paper said: “It should serve as a reminder that things could deteriorate with equal speed…Elevating talks to leadership level so quickly means that if things go wrong, there are few paths ahead. Steps forward can quickly be followed by backwards slides.” Yomiuri Shimbun seemed unfazed by the symbolism and drama, insisting that the path to denuclearisation of North Korea is still not in sight. The Japanese newspaper warned: “Rewards should not be given before the nuclear arsenal is dismantled, nuclear substances are taken out from North Korea, and the International Atomic Energy Agency conducts thorough inspections.
“A slapdash conclusion of a peace treaty could cause divisions between Japan, South Korea and the United States and threaten to disrupt stability in Northeast Asia. Trump should deal with this matter prudently,” the paper said in an editorial.
The South China Morning Post urged the Koreas to build on the steps to peace so that the hopes raised by the summit are not dashed. In an editorial, the Hong Kong-based paper said: “It remains to be seen what the leader of the only country on the Korean peninsula that has developed nuclear weapons and missiles – to deter the perceived threat of a US invasion – wants in return for denuclearisation, or whether he really means it. After all, Pyongyang has a long record of breaking promises.”
The Globe and Mail too saw a chance for peace on the Korean Peninsula, adding that “the details matter and history tells us North Korea is devilishly hard to pin down.” The Canadian newspaper said: “Historians may remember his [Trump’s] bold offer to hold a summit with Kim as a pivotal moment, but there is no way of knowing whether or not he can see this through to the end.”In its editorial, the paper said: “Peace holds much greater benefits for the North than the South; the country ruled by Kim’s neo-Stalinist regime is poor, isolated and starving. But none of this makes this moment less extraordinary, nor tarnishes the cautious hope it elicits.”
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