North Korea says ready to consider inter-Korean summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, on April 27, 2018, on the sidelines of a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (illustrative image).

Korea Summit Press Pool / Pool via Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

In a statement released by the regime's official agency on Saturday, September 25, Kim Jong-un's sister said North Korea could consider an inter-Korean summit and even officially declare the end of the Korean War under certain conditions.

A response to the UN speech earlier this week by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

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With our correspondent in Seoul,

Nicolas Rocca

Kim Yo-jong's statement is one of the most open since the end of diplomatic dialogue in the peninsula in 2019. In this statement, the sister of the North Korean leader affirms that in the event of "

renewed confidence between the two Koreas

”, Significant progress could take place quickly. She mentions in particular a possible inter-Korean summit as well as an official declaration of the end of the Korean war. Two clear objectives of the South Korean president for which time is running out, because Moon Jae-in will leave office in May 2022.

A statement that comes following the speech to the United Nations General Assembly by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during which the participants in the war called on

to end a conflict officially still active

since 1953. The The conflict ended with an armistice but without a peace treaty, leaving the UN troops led by the United States technically still at war with North Korea.

"

Hostile policy

 "

But Kim Yo-jong assured that to see any progress in their relations, the South had to stop its " 

hostile policy

 " towards North Korea. She believes Seoul is practicing double standards, expanding its military arsenal while condemning North Korean missile testing. Pyongyang also did not appreciate the holding of joint military exercises with the United States this summer.

It's hard to imagine an inter-Korean summit in the near future, North Korea being completely closed since the start of the pandemic.

But some experts are raising the possibility of a meeting on the occasion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next February if China manages to get everyone around the negotiating table.

However, the North Korean delegation will not be in Beijing, as the Olympic Committee banned the country after its unilateral decision not to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.

A message received positively by Seoul and the Unification Ministry, which this Sunday deemed the North Korean proposals "

significant

".

► To read also: "North Korea is not ready to discuss ... it wants the reduction of economic sanctions"

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