Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump at the Singapore Summit, June 12, 2018
By Paul Liem | June 13, 2018
After seventy years of cold war rivalry, nearly resulting in nuclear war last fall, Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) and President Donald Trump of the United States met on Sentosa Island, Singapore, June 12, 2018, and with a hand shake set the stage for unprecedented bilateral relations between their countries. The two leaders pledged “to cooperate for the development of new U.S.-D.P.R.K. relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and the security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world,” according to their joint statement.
The post war division of Korea and the Korean War and its legacy, have cost millions of lives, resulted in the militarization of the Korean peninsula, the separation of millions of family members, most of whom have since died without ever having been reunited with their loved ones, and a bitter struggle in the north to survive the harshest of economic sanctions.
In their joint statement President Trump agreed to provide “security guarantees” to the D.P.R.K. and Chairman Kim committed to “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” in accordance with the Panmunjom Declaration of April 17, 2018. Chairman Kim pledged also to dismantle a missile engine test site, as a show of good faith, and President Trump told reporters that he would “like to bring our soldiers home (from South Korea) … at some point,” but that the U.S. would cancel the U.S.-South Korea war games, which he described as “expensive” and “provocative,” in the meantime. President Trump also acknowledged that denuclearization would take time and indicated that sanctions might be eased earlier. “The sanctions will come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor,” he said.
Underscoring the mutual respect with which the two leaders greeted each other is the very real possibility of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) occurring between their countries. MAD became an overriding factor in U.S.-D.P.R.K. relations last November when the latter acquired the ability to reach any city in the continental U.S. with a nuclear tipped ICBM.
President Moon Jae In of the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.), with an eye towards kick starting a peace process, convinced President Trump in December to call off impending U.S. – R.O.K. war games and invited the D.P.R.K. to participate in the Winter Olympics. In kind Chairman Kim emphasized, in his New Year’s address, that the North and South should “work together to ease the acute military tension between the north and the south and create a peaceful environment on the Korean peninsula” and accepted President Moon’s invitation to the Olympics. So came the dramatic turn towards diplomacy between North and South Korea, and between the former and the U.S. In a statement released by the Blue House President Moon applauded Kim and Trump for their “courage and determination … to take a daring step towards change.” “We will be there together with North Korea along the way,” he said.
Seventy years have passed. There is still no peace treaty, sanctions continue to weigh down upon the people of North Korea, and in spite of the Candlelight Revolution which brought President Moon to office in 2017, the R.O.K. armed forces still fall under the command of a U.S. general in time of war, and its peaceful villages still bear the weight of foreign troops, missile defense systems and war ships. But never before has the U.S. been willing to engage bilaterally with the D.P.R.K. to achieve nuclear disarmament, not just in the north, but across the Korean peninsula, and within the framework of a peace process to end, finally, the Korean War. Peace is the hope inspired by the Singapore Summit. What follows is the text of the joint statement, in English, followed by Korean.
Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit
Issued on: June 12, 2018
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.
President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.–DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Convinced that the establishment of new U.S.–DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:
1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.–DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
Having acknowledged that the U.S.–DPRK summit—the first in history—was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in this joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations, led by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the U.S.–DPRK summit.
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new U.S.–DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.
DONALD J. TRUMP President of the United States of America
KIM JONG UN Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
June 12, 2018 Sentosa Island Singapore
김정은 조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회 위원장과
도날드 제이. 트럼프 미합중국 대통령사이의
싱가포르수뇌회담 공동성명
김정은 조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회 위원장과 도날드 제이. 트럼프 미합중국 대통령은 2018년 6월 12일 싱가포르에서 첫 력사적인 수뇌회담을 진행하였다.
김정은위원장과 트럼프대통령은 새로운 조미관계수립과 조선반도에서의 항구적이며 공고한 평화체제구축에 관한 문제들에 대하여 포괄적이며 심도있고 솔직한 의견교환을 진행하였다.
트럼프대통령은 조선민주주의인민공화국에 안전담보를 제공할것을 확언하였으며 김정은위원장은 조선반도의 완전한 비핵화에 대한 확고부동한 의지를 재확인하였다.
김정은위원장과 트럼프대통령은 새로운 조미관계수립이 조선반도와 세계의 평화와 번영에 이바지할것이라는것을 확신하면서, 호상 신뢰구축이 조선반도의 비핵화를 추동할수 있다는것을 인정하면서 다음과 같이 성명한다.
조선민주주의인민공화국과 미합중국은 평화와 번영을 바라는 두 나라 인민들의 념원에 맞게 새로운 조미관계를 수립해나가기로 하였다.
조선민주주의인민공화국과 미합중국은 조선반도에서 항구적이며 공고한 평화체제를 구축하기 위하여 공동으로 노력할것이다.
조선민주주의인민공화국은 2018년 4월 27일에 채택된 판문점선언을 재확인하면서 조선반도의 완전한 비핵화를 향하여 노력할것을 확약하였다.
조선민주주의인민공화국과 미합중국은 전쟁포로 및 행방불명자들의 유골발굴을 진행하며 이미 발굴확인된 유골들을 즉시 송환할것을 확약하였다.
김정은위원장과 트럼프대통령은 력사상 처음으로 되는 조미수뇌회담이 두 나라사이에 수십년간 지속되여온 긴장상태와 적대관계를 해소하고 새로운 미래를 열어나가는데서 커다란 의의를 가지는 획기적인 사변이라는데 대하여 인정하면서 공동성명의 조항들을 완전하고 신속하게 리행하기로 하였다.
조선민주주의인민공화국과 미합중국은 조미수뇌회담의 결과를 리행하기 위하여 가능한 빠른 시일안에 마이크 폼페오 미합중국 국무장관과 조선민주주의인민공화국 해당 고위인사사이의 후속협상을 진행하기로 하였다.
김정은 조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회 위원장과 도날드 제이. 트럼프 미합중국 대통령은 새로운 조미관계발전과 조선반도와 세계의 평화와 번영, 안전을 추동하기 위하여 협력하기로 하였다.
2018년 6월 12일
싱가포르 쎈토사섬
조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회 미합중국 위원장 대 통 령
김 정 은 도날드 제이. 트럼프
