2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

Asia Pacific> Asia News> Content
Thursday, May 31, 2018, 20:08
Moscow 'to help implement Panmunjom Declaration'
By Xinhua
Thursday, May 31, 2018, 20:08 By Xinhua

Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un (right) and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walk during a meeting in Pyongyang, DPRK, May 31, 2018. (VALERY SHARIFULIN/TASS NEWS AGENCY POOL PHOTO VIA AP)

MOSCOW/PYONGYANG/WASHINGTON/SEOUL – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow is ready to fully assist in implementing agreements reached between Pyongyang and Seoul, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

We are ready to contribute in every way to its implementation, especially since there are mentioned railway projects

Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

Lavrov made the remarks at the beginning of talks with the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un in the DPRK's capital Pyongyang, a ministry statement said.

Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin conveys to Kim his warmest regards and best wishes for success in the major undertakings initiated on the Korean Peninsula with the latter's participation.

"We very positively evaluated the Panmunjom Declaration, which you signed with the President of the Republic of Korea (ROK). We are ready to contribute in every way to its implementation, especially since there are mentioned railway projects, which in the long term should be implemented with Russia's participation," the statement cited Lavrov as saying.

Foreign Minister of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Yong-ho (left) shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, May 31, 2018, in Pyongyang, DPRK. (JON CHOL JIN / AP)

Lavrov said Russia is interested in peace, stability and prosperity both on the Korean Peninsula and in the whole Northeast Asia, the statement said.

ROK President Moon Jae-in and Kim held their first summit at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27, signing and announcing the Panmunjom Declaration. Just a month later, Moon and Kim held their surprise second summit on May 26.

Under the Panmunjom Declaration, the two Koreas agreed to complete denuclearization and the alteration of the current armistice agreement into a peace treaty by the end of this year. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice.  

ALSO READ: Trump-Kim summit: Washington sees 'signs of progress'

The visit comes amid a flurry of diplomacy centering the on-again, off-again summit between DPRK leader Kim and US President Donald Trump, which is expected to take place in Singapore on June 12.  

The White House said on Wednesday that multi-track talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been going on well so far and it expects the June 12 meeting to happen. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, center left, and DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, center right, meet at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, DPRK, May 31, 2018. (JON CHOL JIN / AP)

A US delegation, led by US veteran diplomat Sung Kim, met with the DPRK officials earlier on Wednesday at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and their talks will continue, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said at a daily briefing.

The spokesperson also said another US advance team, which was in Singapore for logistics preparation for the Trump-Kim summit met with a DPRK team Wednesday and meetings are expected to continue Thursday. 

READ MORE: Trump confirms senior DPRK official heading to New York

Sanders said the ongoing conversations were centered on the "denuclearization of the peninsula." 

"So far, the readout from these meetings has been positive, and we'll continue to move forward in them," she added.

A spokesman of the ROK foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed that negotiations were underway at the truce village of Panmunjom between Sung Kim and Choe Son-hui, DPRK vice foreign minister.

Noh Kyu-duk, the spokesman, also said working-level talks between Pyongyang and Washington were underway in Singapore.

Kim Yong-chol, center, vice-chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, leaves a hotel in New York, May 30, 2018. (ANDRES KUDACKI / AP)

On Tuesday, the White House announced that Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of DPRK's ruling Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, was traveling to New York and will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Sanders revealed at the briefing that Pompeo will be headed to New York for a dinner with Kim on Wednesday night and they were expected to have a full-day meeting on Thursday. 

The White House press secretary remained optimistic about the prospect of an off-again, on-again Trump-Kim meeting. 

"We're going to continue to shoot for the June 12 and expect to do that," Sanders said. 

The latest positive progress for the summit, originally scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, came after Trump canceled the meeting in a letter to Kim Jong-un last Thursday, citing "tremendous anger and open hostility" displayed by Pyongyang recently. 

In response to Trump's letter, DPRK's First Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said last Friday that the country is ready to sit down with the United States any time in any manner for talks to solve the problems existing between them. 

Trump then reversed course, saying both sides wanted the meeting to happen and it could still go ahead after productive talks. He also confirmed on Sunday that a US official team had arrived in the DPRK to talk about the preparation for talks.

TRIPARTITE SUMMIT?

The possibility of a three-way summit among the DPRK, the US and the ROK depends on the outcome of the expected meeting between the leaders of the US and the DPRK, an official of the ROK presidential Blue House said Thursday. 

Talking to local media, the Blue House official said on condition of anonymity that the ROK will not prepare for the three-way summit in advance.

Share this story