North And South Korea Declare End To War, Proclaim “New Era Of Peace”

This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed Friday to finally end a seven-decade war this year, and signed a declaration to pursue the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, although they did not announce any concrete steps to dismantle the North’s nuclear programs.

The two leaders embraced after signing the deal during a historic meeting on their shared border, the first time a North Korean leader has set foot on the southern side. They announced plans to formally declare a resolution to the war and replace 1953 armistice that ended open hostilities into a peace treaty by year’s end.

“We solemnly declare to our 80m Koreans and the world that there will no more war on the Korean peninsula and a new era of peace has begun,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in said in a joint statement. “It is our urgent historic assignment to put an end to this current abnormal state of ceasefire and establish a peace regime.”

“We have agreed to share a firm determination to open a new era in which all Korean people enjoy prosperity and happiness on a peaceful land without wars,” Kim said, in his first remarks in front of the global press since taking power in 2011.

The two sides “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

The two agreed to work towards advancing the reunification of the divided nations and further improving inter-Korean relations. In order to reduce tension, the two sides agreed to hold military talks in May and set up a joint liaison office in Kaesong, the border town in the North.

“South and North Korea agreed to actively seek the support and cooperation of the international community for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” according to the statement. It didn’t elaborate on what that would entail.

“The commitment to ‘complete denuclearization’ is ambiguous, and subject to different interpretations,” said Youngshik Bong, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. “It can be interpreted as North Korea getting rid of all warheads, or North Korean demands on the U.S. military in South Korea.”

They have also agreed to end any hostile activities that can lead to military clashes, including cross-border propaganda broadcasts and leaflet distribution. They will also enable Red Cross talks to discuss reunions of families separated by the Korean war.

Kim on Friday walked across the military demarcation line dividing the two nations with an aim to end decades of conflict on the peninsula, becoming the first North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean soil.

As Bloomberg notes, the agreement follows a rapid thaw of tensions on the peninsula after a flurry of North Korean missile tests and a hydrogen bomb detonation last year. Kim plans to meet U.S. President Donald Trump soon, which would be the first summit between a North Korean leader and a sitting American president.

The question now is whether the commitment will lead to lasting change. Previous agreements have collapsed over inspections, weapons tests and disputes over economic aid.

Much of the agreement mirrors previous deals between North Korea and Moon’s liberal predecessors. It appeared aimed at restoring cooperation that had deteriorated over the past decade.

Kim’s official Korean Central News Agency issued a tersely worded commentary after the announcement urging the U.S. to respond “with sincerity.” “What is needed for the U.S. is to learn how to observe good manners and how to respect the party concerned, not resorting to high-handed practices and arrogance,” the piece said.

Reaction in markets was limited given the South Korean stock market had closed for the week when the deal was announcement landed.

The meeting paves the way for Mr Kim to meet US President Donald Trump later this year.

“I felt a flood of emotion as I walked the 200 meters here,” Kim told Moon as talks began.

“I came here with a mindset that we will fire a flare at the starting point of a new history for peace and prosperity. Let’s get everything off our minds out here and get good results.”

This is what Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in, as relayed by South Korea’s presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan.

“Kim Jong-un said that he came here to put an end to the history of conflict, discuss and remove obstacles between us with the South Korean president. He said let’s meet more often and we should be determined not to go back to square one. Kim also said let’s live up to all the expectations and create a better world.”

“The two leaders had a sincere and frank dialogue over the denuclearisation and the establishment of permanent peace of the Korean peninsula and development of inter-Korea ties.”

#BREAKING: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes history with a brief walk into South Korea for an ice-breaking #KoreaSummit pic.twitter.com/hsa4IM7O2v

— Jeffs (@jeffs_araujo35) April 27, 2018

After they planted the tree, Mr Kim told Mr Moon:

“Just like a pine tree, I hope that we can always be green, even in winter time.”

“Yes, it will be like that,” Mr Moon replied.

“Eyes and ears from all over the world are focused on Panmunjom,” Moon said. “I feel the weight on our shoulders is heavy.”

As The BBC notes, the inter-Korean summit has basically taken everyone by surprise and proven many an expert prediction very wrong (and gravely disappointed many anti-Trump-ites).

From this…

To this…

In 3 months.

No Wall, No War, No hate
Today, We are all KOREANS #interkoreansummit #남북정상회담 #KoreaSummit pic.twitter.com/iziTIIEGmW

— JaeKwon Son 손재권 (@gjack) April 27, 2018

Here’s one of the pundits contemplating the “known and unknown unknowns” this is teaching us…

Along the way, I"ve gotten many things wrong. Known and unknown unknowns abound. The capacity to be surprised & questions one"s assumptions is a struggle, and the most important one. But blanket skepticism does not guarantee you are getting things right; & fatalism is a dead-end.

— John Delury (@JohnDelury) April 27, 2018

Previous attempts to negotiate aid-for-disarmament deals have failed.

But in January, the North embarked on direct talks with Seoul, attended the Winter Olympics in South Korea and in April the two leaders met for a historic inter-Korean summit.

Pyongyang also offered direct talks with the US – an offer Mr Trump accepted – and ordered a halt to nuclear and missile tests.

Talks between the two would be unprecedented, but the details, agenda and timing of the summit are yet to be confirmed.

Of course, as Bloomberg reports, any progress on dismantling the Kim’s weapons program would likely be slow and fraught, and involve visits by international inspectors. Prior efforts involving Kim’s late father when he was leader collapsed in acrimony, with North Korea blaming the U.S. for failure to adhere to the agreements.

“It’s off to a good start, but there must be a concrete commitment by Kim on denuclearization,” said Youngshik Bong, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Otherwise it will end up as a fancy show.”

South Korea: ‘It Won’t Be Easy For North Korea To Destroy Nuclear Arsenal’ Because It’s So Advanced

According to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, it won’t be a simple task for North Korea to destroy their nuclear arsenal even if they wanted to. Moon says that because the communist nation’s weaponry is so advanced and more developed than most realize, simple destruction isn’t possible.

North Korea is under heavy international pressure to end its weapons programs, pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. But it has vowed never to give up its nuclear arsenal giving a metaphorical middle finger to the United Nations. According to Reuters, speaking to reporters in the Philippines, Moon said that if North Korea agreed to hold talks, negotiations could be held with all options open.

“If talks begin to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, I feel it will be realistically difficult for North Korea to completely destroy its nuclear capabilities when their nuclear and missile arsenal are at a developed stage,” Moon said in a briefing. “If so, North Korea’s nuclear program should be suspended, and negotiations could go on to pursue complete denuclearization.” But talks, according to Washington, aren’t in the works. 

Last week, the North said it did not oppose dialogue, but would “never put the issue related to the supreme interests of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)  and security of its people on the bargaining table”.

“We are not interested in such dialogue and negotiations in the least,” the North’s official news agency said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The North defends the programs as a necessary defense against Washington’s plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, and a legacy of involvement in the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.

United States President Donald Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as North Korea races toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States. Trump threatened in his maiden U.N. address to “totally destroy” North Korea if the United States was threatened and has said the time for talking, the policy of previous U.S. administrations, is over.

Moon also reiterated his stance that now was the time to increase pressure on North Korea so that it would come to talks. He said differences in understanding between South Korea and China, North Korea’s lone major ally, regarding the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on South Koran soil had not been resolved. “China has not said it has changed its stance to agree to THAAD and still says THAAD infringes on its security. We have, in turn, explained THAAD is not aimed at China but only toward curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations,” he said.

"We'll See" Trump Responds Asked If He'll Attack N.Korea, May Halt Trade With Any Country Doing Business With Kim

After President Trump condemned North Korea"s "hostile and dangerous" actions this morning, hours after the rogue state"s 6th nuclear test, and according to the Kim regime first test of a hydrogen bomb, the press wanted to know one thing: will the US attack North Korea? "We"ll see," Trump responded, leaving church when a press pooler shouted a question about if he plans to attack North Korea. Earlier, commenting on Twitter, Trump called the country "a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success", although that statement too failed to provide clarity into what the next tactical step could be.

As reported shortly after midnight ET, the latest North Korean provocation reinforced the danger facing America, Trump had said earlier in a series of tweets, adding that "talk of appeasement" is pointless. "They only understand one thing!" Trump wrote, without elaboration, as he prepared to meet later with his national security team. It was the first nuclear test since Trump took office in January.

The precise strength of the explosion, described by state-controlled media in North Korea as a hydrogen bomb, has yet to be determined. According to the AP, South Korea"s weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North"s previous five such tests. The impact reportedly shook buildings in China and in Russia.

And while Trump decides to what the proper course of action is, his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was busy calling counterparts in Asia, while Steven Mnuchin, said he was putting together proposed new sanctions for Trump to consider that would seek to cut off trade with North Korea, although as we said earlier, it"s unclear what kind of penalties might make a difference. Lassina Zerbo, head of the U.N. test ban treaty organization agreed, saying that sanctions already imposed against North Korea aren"t working.

Last month, Trump warned that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely" and that the U.S. would unleash "fire and fury" on the North if it continued to threaten America. The bellicose words followed threats from North Korea to launch ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, intending to create "enveloping fire" near the military hub that"s home to U.S. bombers. So far, Kim has called Trump"s bluff every single time, without any retaliation besides just more jawboning by the US president, which considering a direct response by N. Korea to a US attack could result in millions of dead South Koreans, is probably not the worst outcome.

Meanwhile, as Trump lashed out at North Korea on twitter this morning, while China remains by far the North"s biggest trading partner, Trump appeared to be more critical of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has attempted to reach out to the North. To that point, the WSJ reported yesterday that the White House was weighing withdrawing from a five-year-old bilateral trade pact known as KORUS, with a decision set to come as soon as this coming week, according to people familiar with the matter

"South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!" Trump said.

Shortly after noon ET, Trump underscored the threat of trade war involving both South Korea and China, when he tweeted "The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea."

The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

He also said that he will be meeting "General Kelly, General Mattis and other military leaders at the White House to discuss North Korea. Thank you."

I will be meeting General Kelly, General Mattis and other military leaders at the White House to discuss North Korea. Thank you.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

Meanwhile, China"s Xinhua News Agency said President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, meeting on the sidelines of a Beijing-led economic summit, agreed "to adhere to the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, have close communication and coordination and properly respond" to the test.

While leaders of superpowers were moving slowly, regional concerns were at breaking point: South Korea held a National Security Council meeting chaired by Moon. Officials in Seoul said Trump"s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, spoke with his South Korean counterpart for 20 minutes about an hour after the detonation. Japan"s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the test "absolutely unacceptable."

Nuclear tests are crucial to perfecting sophisticated technologies and to demonstrating to the world that claims of nuclear prowess are not merely a bluff. The North claimed the device it tested was a thermonuclear weapon, also known as a hydrogen bomb. That could be hard to independently confirm. It said the underground test site did not leak radioactive materials, which would make such a determination even harder.

At the same time, the simple power of the blast was convincing. Japan"s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said it might have been as powerful as 70 kilotons. North Korea"s previous largest was thought to be anywhere from 10 to 30 kilotons. "We cannot deny it was an H-bomb test," Onodera said.

Even before this morning"s H-bomb test, the AP reported that Japan was debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles, ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat. With revisions to Japan"s defense plans underway, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defense experts say Japan should at least consider them.

After being on the backburner in the ruling party for decades, a possibility of pre-emptive strike was formally proposed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by his party"s missile defense panel in March, prompting parliamentary debate, though somewhat lost steam as Abe apparently avoided the divisive topic after seeing support ratings for his scandal-laden government plunge.

"Should we possess pre-emptive strike capability?" liberal-leaning Mainichi newspaper asked the following day. "But isn"t it too reckless to jump to discuss a "get them before they get you" approach?"

Following the latest, most powerful nuclear test, Japan"s resolve for a preemptive strike will only strengthen further.

Meanwhile, more is likely to come from North Korea.  Just before Sunday"s test, according to state media, Kim and the other senior leaders at the party presidium meeting discussed "detailed ways and measures for containing the U.S. and other hostile forces" vicious moves for sanctions." The photos released earlier showed Kim talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanut-shaped device that the state-run media said was designed to be mounted on the North"s "Hwasong-14" ICBM. The North claims the device was made domestically and has explosive power that can range from tens to hundreds of kilotons. For context, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the U.S. had a 15-kiloton yield.

Of course, the biggest concern to date is that not only are options to pressure Pyongyang limited, but the Kim regime seems to be growing more bold with every unanswered provocation. Further economic and trade sanctions, increased diplomatic pressure and boosting military maneuvers or shows of force would likely all be on the table. Which is why we expect that following today"s meeting between Trump and Kelly, General and "other military leaders", the sequence of events involing US military intervention in North Korea will finally start to move.

Police Escort South Korea's Former President Out Of Her Official Residence

South Korea"s disgraced president struck a defiant tone on Friday morning when a constitutional court unanimously upheld the decision to impeach Park Guen-hye: she did not appear in court and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment nor would she leave the  presidential Blue House residence on Friday. "For now, Park is not leaving the Blue House today," Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters. That changed on Sunday, when Park Geun-hye, 65, who has become South Korea"s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, left the official presidential Blue House residence on Sunday in a motorcade of fast-driving black cars, flanked by police motorbikes.

And, like Friday, the former president who now faces life as a private citizen and the possibility of prison time, was likewise defiant upon arriving at her private home in the Gangnam district of the capital, Seoul: "I feel sorry that I could not finish the mandate given to me as president," a spokesman for Park, member of parliament Min Kyung-wook, quoted her as saying. "It will take time, but I believe the truth will be revealed," Park said in her first public comments since her dismissal.

It was not the first time the former president has had to leave the Blue House compound of traditional-style buildings at the foot of a hill in Seoul.

In 1979, after a nine-day funeral following the assassination of her father, the young Park left the Blue House with her siblings for a family home. She had been acting first lady after her mother was shot and killed in an earlier failed assassination attempt on her father. Now, having lost presidential immunity, she could face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil. Both women denied wrongdoing.

In a departure from her recent stubborn refusal to accept responsibility for the events that culminated with Friday"s Constitutional Court on Friday upholding a parliamentary impeachment vote over an influence-peddling scandal that has shaken the political and business elite, without blaming outside intervention, like for example Russian hacking.

"I take responsibility for the outcome of all this," Min quoted her as saying according to Reuters.

A snap presidential election will be held by May 9. Her dismissal followed months of political paralysis and turmoil over the scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail and facing trial. The crisis has coincided with rising tension with North Korea and anger from China over the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. missile-defense system.

Meanwhile, throngs of flag-waving supporters crowded the street outside Park"s home as she arrived there about 30 minutes after leaving the presidential palace. She waved through her car"s tinted window as it inched its way down the street, with security men in suits walking alongside. She stepped out smiling, the public"s first glimpse of her since her dismissal, and greeted supporters.

Supporters of the now former president gather at her Seoul residence on Sunday

According to Korea Herald, loyalists to former President Park Geun-hye flocked nearby her private residence in southern Seoul late Sunday, seeking to bid farewell to the state chief who faced an earlier-than-expected end of her tenure upon impeachment.

Park Geun-hye smiles to her supporters in front of her old home in Samseong-dong

The residential neighborhood in Samseong-dong was crammed with hundreds awaiting the retreat of the former president to her home. In addition to some 800 police officers who kept guard at the scene, a considerable number of Park supporters, including ranking pro-Park lawmakers, former secretariat chiefs and members of the anti-impeachment civic group, were present. Police said over 1,000 gathered.  A smiling Park shook hands and exchanged greetings with her former aides and political allies in front of her home, as her followers shouted messages of encouragement.

Rep. Cho Won-jin, a former public affairs strategist of the party and ranking Park aide, was the first to arrive at the scene earlier in the afternoon. Reps. Yoon Sang-hyun, Kim Jin-tae and Park Dae-chul, who have participated in the Taegeukgi rallies to oppose Park‘s impeachment, were also there. “The intention is not so much to offer consolation, but to bid farewell,” said one of the pro-Park lawmakers.

While lawmakers and former secretariat officials retained composure, preparing for Park’s arrival, members of Parksamo -- the official group of Park’s supporters -- let out enraged responses. After Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Park’s departure at 7:16 p.m., some 800 Park supporters became restless, shouting out the former president’s name and cursing the Constitutional Court for its impeachment ruling.

* * *

Elsewhere, the liberal politician likely to become the next president, Moon Jae-in, promised to work for justice and common sense. "We still have a long way to go. We have to make this a country of justice, of common sense through regime change," Moon, who advocates reconciliation with North Korea, told a news conference.

Moon is leading in opinion polls, which show South Koreans are likely to throw out the conservatives after nearly a decade in power and turn to a liberal leader. Moon called on Park to publicly accept the court ruling, which she now appears to have done, however the transition did not come without a tragedy. On Friday, two Park supporters were killed as they tried to break through police lines outside the court, shortly after the verdict. One was believed to have had a heart attack and the other died as the Park supporters attacked police buses. A third, a man aged 74, suffered a heart attack and died on Saturday.

Thousands of Park"s opponents celebrated in Seoul on Saturday, where they have been gathering every weekend for months, and demanded that she be arrested. The former president"s conservative supporters also took to the streets not far away, though fewer in number. Police were out in force but there was no trouble.

The chaos in South Korea"s political establishment comes at a sensitive time for the nation: the country"s northern neighbor, North Korea, has been acting in an increasingly irrational fashion in recent weeks, and according to the Predata-Beyond Parallel think tank the odds of a North Korean WMD attack in the next month have topped 60%.

 

Another ballistic missile launch could provoke an armed response by both Japan and China, and potentially see the deployment of the controversial THAAD missiles recently deployed by the US in South Korea which could further escalate the tension in the region.