DPRK vows to be nuclear-free

Expert says the US should do more for peace mechanism

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has shown its determination to solve the peninsula issues after its top leader voiced support for denuclearization during a meeting with envoys from the Republic of Korea.

Kim Jong-un, top leader of the DPRK, said he will "completely remove the danger of armed conflict and horror of war from the Korean Peninsula and turn it into the cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from nuclear threat", according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

A special envoy delegation of the ROK's President Moon Jaein met with Kim during their one-day visit to Pyongyang on Wednesday to discuss details of the upcoming summit.

China hopes the meeting between the two sides will achieve positive results.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday that Beijing always welcomes and supports the DPRK and ROK to maintain direct dialogue and continue to promote reconciliation and cooperation.

After reading a personal letter from Moon brought by the special envoy, Kim expressed his thanks to the ROK president for sending the message which expressed a firm will to wisely overcome many challenges in the future, KCNA reported.

Chung Eui-yong, Moon's national security adviser, said on Thursday that Kim and Moon will meet in Pyongyang on Sep 18 to 20 and will discuss "practical measures" toward denuclearization, after his meeting with Kim a day earlier.

Kim and Moon met twice at the border village of Panmunjom in April and May.

Chung said Kim's faith in the United State President Donald Trump was "unchanged" and that he wanted denuclearization and an end to hostile relations with the US before Trump's first term in office ends in early 2021, indicating the denuclearization timetable Pyongyang suggested.

ROK's presidential Blue House also said on Thursday that it will deliver a message from Kim to the US and receive a message from Trump to the top DPRK leader, without elaborating on what the message would be.

Gao Fei, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, said there would be a long way ahead, although Kim has shown his determination of denuclearization.

Gao said another difficulty lies on the US side as the premise of realizing denuclearization is that both the DPRK and the US should be sincere to each other. "Now Pyongyang has expressed its sincerity, it's time to see how Washington will respond and how much sincerity it has."

He added that the US should do more regarding not only the denuclearization, but also the establishment of a long-term peace mechanism on the basis of respecting its counterpart.

Kim also said that he highly appreciates and always feels grateful to Moon for his sincerity and hard work for the DPRK-US summit, and the north and the south should further their efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, according to KCNA.

Moon commented on Thursday that he has high expectations for his third summit with Kim. "The outcome of the special delegation's visit was really good; it accomplished much more than what was expected."

Li Chengri, researcher from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said solving the peninsula issues will need more time and require multilateral interaction beyond the DPRK, the ROK and the US.

"The situation on the peninsula will continue to move forward," he said. "But the specific results are as yet unknown."

Luo Huining, Xinhua and Reuters contributed to this story.

China Daily/Reuters/Xinhua