Peninsula offers ray of hope for peace

Editor's note: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea held high-level talks in the border town of Panmunjom on Tuesday, and raised hopes over the DPRK's participation in the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, the ROK, next month. Two experts share their views on the positive development on the Korean Peninsula with China Daily’s Pan Yixuan. Experts follow:

DPRK-ROK need more talks to restore peace

It’s time the DPRK found a suitable way to develop its economy. After years of conducting nuclear and missile tests ignoring international pressure, the DPRK seems to have achieved the goal of developing nuclear weapons to safeguard its national security, which was one of the two goals DPRK leader Kim Jung-un set for the country when he took office. So Kim now seeks to achieve the other goal: economic development.

In response to the DPRK's frequent nuclear and missile tests, in order to counter the military threat posed by the United States, the United Nations Security Council has in recent years imposed several sanctions on Pyongyang, which have severely curbed the DPRK's economic development. For example, UN Security Council Resolution 2397 in late December cut Pyongyang’s refined petroleum imports to half a million barrels a year.

Besides, by diverting huge amounts of money to its nuclear and missile project, the DPRK has compromised its economic development. It makes perfect sense, therefore, for Pyongyang to restart talks with Seoul, as it could help the DPRK economy to recover.

On his part, ROK President Moon Jae-in has shown a friendly attitude toward the DPRK since taking office in August 2017. Seoul doesn't want a war on the peninsula, as it will further lessen its say on the peninsula nuclear issue. So resuming talks is vitally important for Moon, as it can help him to make some concrete political achievements.

Pyongyang’s positive response to the olive branch offered by Seoul means Moon’s efforts — to help lift the shadow of war over the peninsula — are very likely to bear fruit. There is little doubt that Pyongyang and Seoul will use the Pyeongchang Winter Games, as a starting point to reach an agreement on future benefits through inter-Korean dialogue.

Although the US has agreed to postpone the military drills with the ROK scheduled for March until after the Winter Olympics, and US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would "be absolutely willing" talk to Kim, how these promises would play out is not known. The US has always viewed the DPRK's moves to help denuclearize the Korean Peninsula with suspicion and persisted with the strategy of putting maximum military pressure on Pyongyang to get its desired result.

Only if the US stops its military provocations and the DPRK suspends the nuclear and missile tests can the peninsula see peace and prosperity. That's why the DPRK's move has come as a welcome relief.

Wang Junsheng, an associate researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

All sides must work to restore peace

The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Feb 9-25 will provide a golden opportunity to the DPRK and the ROK to restore peace a on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has responded positively to Seoul’s conciliatory overtures, which is likely to break the political deadlock with the US-ROK alliance. In fact, on Saturday, Pyongyang released a list of delegates who will attend the high-level talks in Panmunjom, the DPRK, on Tuesday.

The DPRK has made sincere efforts to resume talks, and Trump said on Sunday that, "I always believe in talking", raising hopes of a rapprochement between Pyongyang and Washington. Earlier, the US president agreed to postpone the military drills with the ROK scheduled for March because of the Pyeongchang Winter Games. Which suggests China's "dual-suspension" proposal — the DPRK suspending its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for the US and the ROK suspending their large-scale joint military drills — is yielding some results, and could ultimately restore peace on the peninsula. But for that, both sides have to maintain the momentum of the peace process.

During his visit to the ROK from Friday to Saturday, Kong Xuanyou, vice-foreign minister and China’s special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, discussed the peninsula situation with his ROK counterpart Lee Do-hoon, and appealed to all sides to continue making efforts to establish permanent peace on the peninsula.

Thanks to Pyongyang's positive response the US' gesture, the threat of war has dissipated at least for now. But there is a long way to go before peace can be fully restored on the peninsula. Though the Pyongyang-Seoul talks are a milestone, the ultimate solution to the peninsula problem lies in the overall improvement of DPRK-US relations, which seems elusive at the moment.

For restoring lasting peace on the peninsula, two things are necessary: Pyongyang abandoning or halting its nuclear and missile program, and the US easing the military pressure on Pyongyang after the Pyeongchang Winter Games. And unfortunately, these two factors have not been decided yet.
Washington should realize Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile program is aimed at safeguarding its national security and, by extension, normalizing relations with the US. Pyongyang wants Washington and Seoul to change their hostile attitude toward it and sincerely consider its needs.

Besides, the DPRK is making concrete efforts to avoid war on the peninsula, because it would also suffer losses and casualties if a war broke out on the peninsula. So all parties should work together to find a lasting solution to the peninsula nuclear problem.

Wang Sheng, a professor at the Department of International Politics, Jilin University