Moon starts Pyongyang bid to save Trump-Kim nuclear talks

Bloomberg

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greeted South Korean President Moon Jae-in in an elaborate welcoming ceremony as he arrived at Pyongyang airport on Tuesday for a landmark visit to salvage stalled nuclear talks between the regime and the US.
Thousands of North Korean men and women waved flowers and flags as Kim and Moon shared smiles and handshakes on the tarmac, a warm start to the first visit by a South Korean leader in 11 years. A band played while the leaders greeted senior officials from both countries on a red carpet in front of a large crowd, which displayed a banner saying North Koreans “passionately welcome” Moon.
Later, the two leaders rode together in a limousine through wide tree-lined streets in Pyongyang, waving at crowds of cheering North Koreans who lined the route dressed in suits and traditional Korean hanboks. At one point, the car passed by the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the tomb of Kim’s late father and grandfather.
The three-day trip will feature a joint press appearance on Wednesday with Kim, who has resisted American attempts to spell out a timetable for giving up his nuclear weapons. Talks have stalled just three months after he met US President Donald Trump in Singapore, with Kim saying the US needs to reciprocate for the country’s dismantling nuclear and missile test sites.
Kim is pushing for a peace declaration with the US before he takes concrete steps towards getting rid of his nuclear capability. American strategists fear such a declaration will bolster arguments to ease sanctions on North Korea—one of the biggest pieces of leverage Trump has left—and draw down the US military presence in South Korea. Shortly after Moon’s arrival in Pyongyang, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency blamed the US for the deadlocked negotiations, accusing it of making “gangster-like” demands and failing to build confidence with measures like a peace declaration. Citing a commentary published in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, it said the future of the talks“totally depends on the stand and action of the US.”
“I will have candid talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to find common ground between the US demand to denuclearize and the North Korean demand to end their hostile relations,” Moon said at a meeting with his top aides on Monday. “What I am trying to achieve is peace. Not a temporary change that can be swayed by international conditions, but an irreversible and permanent peace.”
Moon flew with a roughly 200-person delegation that includes government officials, the billionaire heir of Samsung Electronics Co. and other executives from South Korea’s largest conglomerates. Besides formal meetings, Moon and Kim will watch art performances and enjoy a lavish welcome banquet.
It’s only the third visit ever by a South Korean president to Pyongyang. In 2000 and 2007, two of Moon’s predecessors—who adopted a similar engagement policy—had met with Kim Jong Il, the current leader’s late father, in the city.
Moon arguably has a tougher job this time around: The world is counting on him to persuade Kim to commit to something that goes beyond the vague denuclearisation promise delivered in April.