On March 6th, 2018, South Korea and North Korea had bilateral talks. During the bilateral talks, North Korea said that they have the will to denuclearize and stop all nuclear programs if the United States ensure the safety of North Korea’s social systems. After the interview of Jeong Yiyong who went to North Korea as a senior envoy, Donald Trump, the president of United States said that talks with North Korea are going well and that this is the fruit of years of efforts. He also said that North Korea’s denuclearization may be a vain hope, but the United States is ready to use both options which are to oppress North Korea to give up nuclear weapons or to negotiate with North Korea. Also, there will be bilateral talks between North Korea and South Korea, and between North Korea and the United States. The bilateral talk between North Korea and South Korea is earlier than the talk with the United States, so in this bilateral talk, we will set rules about denuclearization and the peace of the Korean Peninsula. Korean president, Moon Jae-in said that if things go well, a trialogue of North and South Korea and the United States will be possible. It’s the first time that a trialogue of these three countries is mentioned, but if North Korea’s recent attitude continues, it’s possible to hold the trialogue.

Due to the change in North Korea’s attitude, president Moon Jae-in has gotten good appraisal from more supporters. Yang Moo-jin, the professor of the University of North Korean Studies said, “Moon Jae-in is trying to keep this good atmosphere until a trialogue of North and South Korea, and the United States is held.” Prof. Yang also said, “If this good atmosphere continues and the trialogue is held, the three countries will be likely to talk about the war in a state of armistice. Then, it’s possible for the three countries to form the basis of a declaration for the end of the war in the trialogue because the three countries have a firm goal and the goals can be met by one another.” Also, there are people who agree to denuclearization overseas. On March 13, 2018, when the chairman of the National Assembly of Korea, Jeong So-gyoon met the president of Kazakhstan, the president of Kazakhstan said, “I’m absolutely agreeing to North Korea’s denuclearization. Kazakhstan started to get many investments from many countries after we decided to denuclearize. Now, we’re getting the most investments in Middle Asian countries. The only way to keep the country safe is denuclearization.”

After the strong restrictions of the United States followed by many other countries, North Korea’s attitude has changed. For examples, North Korea sent many people to the Pyeongchang Olympics, and they also said that they have the will to denuclearize and stop all nuclear programs if their demands are satisfied. Although it is a good change, because North Korea’s attitude changed so quickly, some people say that we should be careful not to be deceived by North Korea. Actually, we were deceived by North Korea many times before, so it’s not strange to be careful about being deceived. Also, Yoo Seung-min, the member of the National Assembly said that we have been deceived by North Korea so many times. Also, he said that Kim Jeong-eun is saying the same things that his father and his grandfather said when we were deceived by them. After all, we can’t live peacefully until the war is in a state of the armistice, so we should try to negotiate with North Korea while being careful not to be deceived by them again.

2018.3.28 Jang Ho-yeon