SEOUL: A peace treaty to formally end the Korean War "must be pursued", South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday, ahead of a summit next week with Kim Jong Un, leader of the nuclear-armed North.
(Video YouTube/ARIRANG NEWS)
"The armistice that has dragged on for 65 years must come to an end," Moon told media company representatives at the presidential Blue House, adding: "The signing of a peace treaty must be pursued after an end to the war is declared."
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war, and the Demilitarised Zone between them -- where Moon and Kim will meet next Friday -- bristles with minefields and fortifications.
But Moon signalled that a treaty would depend on the North giving up its nuclear weapons.
"If the inter-Korean summit or North Korea-US summit lead to denuclearisation," he said, "I think that it won't be too difficult to reach practical agreements in the big picture on creating a peace regime, normalising North Korea-US ties, or providing international aid for the improvement of the North Korean economy."
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, leaving the two sides technically at war, and the Demilitarised Zone between them -- where South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un will meet next Friday -- bristles with minefields
Moon spoke after US President Donald Trump warned that his own much-anticipated summit with Kim would be called off if he did not think it would be "fruitful".
"If I think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go," Trump said.
"If the meeting, when I'm there, is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting."
The question of whether the North is willing to give up what it calls the "treasured sword" of its nuclear arms is key.
North Korea's state media on Thursday announced it will convene a full meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea central committee to make key policy decisions.
The official KCNA news agency gave no indications what they might be about, saying only that Friday's gathering will address issues of a "new stage" in what it called "the important historic period of the developing Korean revolution".
Analysts say there could be changes to its stance towards the US.
"It needs a logical explanation and justification for the shift in its ties with the 'enemy' US, which has held the North Koreans together for the past 70 years," said Kim Dong-yub, a researcher at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
"It looks like they are ready to do that," Kim added.