South Korea & US agree on draft text of end-of-war declaration, says FM Chung Eui-yong

Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, Chung Eui-Yong said on Wednesday that South Korea and the United States have agreed on the draft text of a planned declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. He also stated that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated progress in the allies' deliberations on the declaration earlier this month during the Group of Seven meeting in Liverpool, Britain, as per the reports of Yonhap News. However, despite the fact that Seoul and Washington made the declaration, its destiny remains unknown because Pyongyang has remained hostile to their offers of discussion.

Chung claims that North Korea has shown a positive response to the declaration. He further stated that North Korea provided a series of fast, favourable reactions to the end-of-war declaration, but they hope for a more tangible response from North Korea. He also said that they are thinking about other methods to move the talks with North Korea forward.

'Declaration is interesting and admirable'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, who is a member of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, termed the declaration interesting and admirable, in September, but asked Seoul to abandon its hostile approach toward Pyongyang in order to begin appropriate negotiations, according to Yonhap News.

Since the Hanoi summit in 2019, denuclearisation negotiations between the US and the North have been stuck. According to the Korea Herald, US State Department spokesman Ned Price urged North Korea to engage in dialogue by stating that they have made clear through the public messaging and private messaging as well that they are ready, willing and able to engage in this diplomacy and they continue to hope that North Korea will respond positively to that outreach.

Chung on Beijing Olympics

Talking about the Beijing Olympics, Chung emphasised that Seoul is not considering joining the US-led diplomatic boycott of the event. He stated that they think that the Beijing Olympics would be an opportunity to enhance inter-Korean relations, according to Yonhap News. However, he emphasised that the Moon government will seize all possible opportunities to begin the stalled process of achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

IMAGE: AP