US-DPRK talks need more encouragement

On March 8, Chung Euiyong, the national security advisor of the Republic of Korea, announced that the US President Donald Trump had agreed to talk with Kim Jong-un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This represented a stunning breakthrough in Washington-Pyongyang relations, especially considering the increasing size of the US-DPRK military drills and the war of words between Trump and Kim in the past year.

Peace on the Korean Peninsula is the common wish of the international community, which values Pyongyang and Seoul taking the opportunity of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the ROK from Feb 9 to 25 to thaw their relations. The Winter Olympics have thus provided a chance for Pyongyang to establish contact with Washington through Seoul. Meanwhile, the improved ties with Seoul can also help ease the military threat of the US-ROK alliance to Pyongyang.

Seoul has demonstrated its clear stance that it will spare no efforts to restore peace on the Peninsula through talks, but it wants the sanctions against the DPRK to be continued until an agreement on denuclearization is reached. Since February, the ROK has played an active role as a mediator between the DPRK and the United States, postponing the joint military drill with the US in response to Pyongyang ceasing its missile and nuclear tests, which was also a response to China's "dual-halt" proposal for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.