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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un offers to reconnect vital communication line with South Korea
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https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3158357/china-backs-south-koreas-aim-official-declaration-end-1950-1953 East Asia
China backs South Korea’s aim of official declaration of end to 1950-1953 Korean war
- Politburo’s Yang Jiechi delivers message during meeting with South Korea’s National Security Director Suh Hoon; says formal end would help promote peace and stability on Korean peninsula
- Seoul sees declaration as way to build trust with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and restart stalled denuclearisation talks; US says it and Seoul may have different perspectives on ‘precise sequence, timing, conditions’
China’s Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, with South Korea’s National Security Advisor Suh Hoon in China’s northern city of Tianjin on December 2. China is backing South Korea’s push for a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean war. Photo: Xinhua
China’s top diplomat has backed South Korea’s push for the declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean war, the Yonhap news agency said on Friday, citing South Korea’s embassy in Beijing.
China fought alongside North Korea against the US-led United Nations and South Korea during the confrontation that ended in an unstable armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war. China is now North Korea’s most important political ally and largest trade partner.
Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, delivered the message during a meeting with South Korea’s National Security Director Suh Hoon – who also serves as President Moon Jae-in’s national security adviser – in Tianjin, a city in northern China.
Yang was quoted as saying that China supports “the push for the end-of-war declaration and believes that the end-of-war declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula”.
Yang and Suh also reaffirmed that the two sides would work on President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to South Korea as soon as the Covid-19 situation is stable. Xi’s trip has been postponed because of the pandemic.
Seoul sees an “end of war declaration” as a way to build trust with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, restart stalled denuclearisation talks, and eventually move toward a lasting peace agreement.
But Moon, who has tried to engage with North Korea throughout his presidency, is running out of time to clinch an agreement before his five-year term ends in May.
North Korea has so far rebuffed US entreaties for diplomacy since President Joe Biden took over from Donald Trump, who had three summits with Kim.
South Korea and the United States, which are in a security alliance, have been discussing the possibility of a formal declaration but US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the two allies might have “somewhat different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps”.
Seoul and Washington are said to have not yet made an official proposal to the North to discuss an ‘end of war’ announcement. North Korea, however, said it would reject any proposal by the South unless the United States withdraws its “hostile policy” towards Pyongyang.