North Korea’s state-run news agency hailed the inter-Korean summit on Saturday and made a rare mention of the promise to pursue “complete denuclearization” as the diplomatic offensive shifted to President Donald Trump’s court.
The report followed a day of bold declarations and stunning symbolism as Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to step foot on South Korean soil since the 1950-53 war ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in emerged from several hours of walks and talks promising to remove nuclear weapons from the divided peninsula and to work toward a formal end to the war.
The Korean Central News Agency called Friday’s summit Kim’s “immortal achievement” and “a realization of the supreme leader’s blazing love for the nation.”
“North and South Korea affirmed the common goal of realizing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization,” KCNA said, adding that ”the measures led and taken by the North and South are very meaningful, significant ones for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
But the final declaration offered no specific measures on ending the decades-old nuclear standoff, leaving it up to Trump to try to close the deal in his planned summit with Kim, which is expected to occur in coming weeks.
Trump said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization and vowed to maintain the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign of punishing economic sanctions and other measures until that happens.
“And if I can’t do it, it’ll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It’s certainly something that I hope I can do for the world,” he said Friday during appearances with visiting Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Trump said he was looking forward to his upcoming meeting with Kim, adding the list of potential sites has been narrowed to two countries, which he didn’t list.