DPRK talks can yield payoffs if all engage with sincerity

Kim Jong-un's visit to Beijing this week for talks with President Xi Jinping has raised hopes that the planned upcoming series of meetings will produce meaningful outcomes, as the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea pledged his commitment to denuclearization, which is the ultimate goal of all the other stakeholders in the issue, including China.

The fruitful results of the meeting between Xi and Kim have been widely recognized by the international community, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcoming the meeting, and US President Donald Trump saying in a tweet that he had been informed by Xi on Tuesday night that the meeting with Kim "went very well" and that Kim looked forward to meeting the US president. A meeting between the two leaders is reportedly in the works for sometime in May, although the time and place have not yet been announced.

After Kim concluded his visit to Beijing, Republic of Korea officials did confirm on Thursday that a meeting between ROK President Moon Jae-in and Kim is to be held on April 27 in the border truce village of Panmunjom. And Japan has reportedly also sounded out the DPRK about a bilateral summit.