Seoul reveals having agreed on draft with US to end Korean War

Seoul, Dec 29 (EFE).- South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Wednesday that Seoul and Washington have agreed on a draft declaration to end the Korean War, something the government of the Asian country has been pushing for to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.

“South Korea and the US have already agreed on the importance of the end-of-war declaration, and the two sides have effectively reached an agreement on its draft text,” Chung said at a press conference.

Analysts have questioned the feasibility of this initiative, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in brought up in September, as a final effort to bring Pyongyang back to denuclearization talks before the end of his term in May next year.

The draft is intended to bring an end to the Korean War (1950-1953), which concluded only with a ceasefire but was never followed by a peace treaty.

Chung said that while North Korea has responded positively to the move so far, they hoped it would show a more concrete response.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, has considered the proposal to be “interesting” at the time, but urged Seoul and Washington to abandon their “hostile policy” toward the regime to make progress in talks.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un said he was not interested at the moment in holding any meeting with the US to try to revive the stalled denuclearization talks because of the aforementioned “hostile policy”.

The announcement by the South Korean minister comes at a time when North Korea is holding an important plenary of the party to chalk up its political and diplomatic policies for 2022.

At the conclusion of the plenary session around the New Year, Kim Jong-un is expected to deliver a closing speech that will serve as a message to Seoul and Washington about what the regime’s intentions will be next year. EFE

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