Pyongyang should allow IAEA to inspect nuke sites
China clearly benefits from summit outcome; Japan gains least
By Kim Jae-kyoung
SINGAPORE ― The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has marked a meaningful step on the long road to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
However, the meeting has left one big question due to the lack of details about how to verify the North's denuclearization: Is Kim really willing to give up his nuclear weapons?
Liang Tuang Nah, a research fellow of the Military Studies Program at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, said that in order to show his sincerity, Kim must allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect key nuclear sites.
"Pyongyang needs to permit unrestricted inspections of its nuclear material production facilities, nuclear storage sites and depots where missiles and warheads are kept," he said in an interview after the summit.
"These must be conducted by the IAEA along with qualified military experts," he added.
He stressed that the terms under which these inspections are to proceed must be negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart as soon as possible.
But Nah, an expert on North Korea and nuclear weapons, said that the summit shows a glimmer of hope in that Pompeo agreed to meet with his counterpart from the North and hammer out the details for the implementation of the document's points.
Regarding any controversy over wording in the joint statement, he said that it is not that important to put the CVID acronym in the document or for the North to mention it.
CVID stands for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, which the U.S. has claimed is the bottom line for success of the summit. The joint statement mentioned only "complete" denuclearization.
At a press conference in Seoul Wednesday, Pompeo suggests that though the words "verifiable" and "irreversible" were not put in the statement, they are implied in the word "complete."
"What matters are the denuclearization measures actually implemented by the North," he said.
From his perspective, the key requirement to ensure the North's denuclearization is to confirm concrete and permanent "roll back" of its nuclear arms program, such as the demolishing of the Yongbyeon nuclear reactor or the surrender of significant amounts of plutonium or enriched uranium take place.
"Then I'll confidently state that progress has been made toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.
Among countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula, Nah said that China should be considered a winner.
"China would certainly benefit from this outcome as a lack of missile and/or nuclear antagonism from the North would spare China from UN pressure to ramp up sanctions," he said.
"Looking at this through Tokyo's eyes, one might posit that Japan gains the least from this latest development," he added.
He believes that if further negotiations do result in irreversible denuclearization measures implemented by Pyongyang, there would be almost irresistible pressure to relax sanctions.
"This will certainly bring economic dividends to South Korea, China and North Korea," he said.
"Fundamentally, we might over the long run be looking at the political, economic and strategic normalization of relations in Northeast Asia and the conclusion of the last conflict from the Cold War," he said.
By Kim Jae-kyoung
SINGAPORE ― The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has marked a meaningful step on the long road to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
However, the meeting has left one big question due to the lack of details about how to verify the North's denuclearization: Is Kim really willing to give up his nuclear weapons?
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| Liang Tuang Nah |
"Pyongyang needs to permit unrestricted inspections of its nuclear material production facilities, nuclear storage sites and depots where missiles and warheads are kept," he said in an interview after the summit.
"These must be conducted by the IAEA along with qualified military experts," he added.
He stressed that the terms under which these inspections are to proceed must be negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart as soon as possible.
But Nah, an expert on North Korea and nuclear weapons, said that the summit shows a glimmer of hope in that Pompeo agreed to meet with his counterpart from the North and hammer out the details for the implementation of the document's points.
Regarding any controversy over wording in the joint statement, he said that it is not that important to put the CVID acronym in the document or for the North to mention it.
CVID stands for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, which the U.S. has claimed is the bottom line for success of the summit. The joint statement mentioned only "complete" denuclearization.
At a press conference in Seoul Wednesday, Pompeo suggests that though the words "verifiable" and "irreversible" were not put in the statement, they are implied in the word "complete."
"What matters are the denuclearization measures actually implemented by the North," he said.
From his perspective, the key requirement to ensure the North's denuclearization is to confirm concrete and permanent "roll back" of its nuclear arms program, such as the demolishing of the Yongbyeon nuclear reactor or the surrender of significant amounts of plutonium or enriched uranium take place.
"Then I'll confidently state that progress has been made toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.
Among countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula, Nah said that China should be considered a winner.
"China would certainly benefit from this outcome as a lack of missile and/or nuclear antagonism from the North would spare China from UN pressure to ramp up sanctions," he said.
"Looking at this through Tokyo's eyes, one might posit that Japan gains the least from this latest development," he added.
He believes that if further negotiations do result in irreversible denuclearization measures implemented by Pyongyang, there would be almost irresistible pressure to relax sanctions.
"This will certainly bring economic dividends to South Korea, China and North Korea," he said.
"Fundamentally, we might over the long run be looking at the political, economic and strategic normalization of relations in Northeast Asia and the conclusion of the last conflict from the Cold War," he said.
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