South Korea, Japan, China hold summit amid flurry of North Korea and U.S. activity

Arirang News 2018-05-09

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To take a look at that meeting and break down the other events of the day, we have with us Professor Song Se-ryun from Kyung Hee University. Professor Song, thank you taking the time to come speak to us today.

My pleasure.

1 - There's a lot to unpack today. But we'll start with the trilateral summit. It's the first of its kind in two and a half years, which is a significant hiatus considering how close geographically and politically those three nations are tied. How do you think it went?

2 - Japan and China both showed support for the Inter-Korean Summit and the Panmunjom Declaration. They both made comments about peace in the region and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Japan more strongly than China. How important is the role of the two countries looking ahead, and how does South Korea mediate between them?

3 - There is a potential for the interests of the three sides on North Korea to become conflicting in the future. How do you view this relationship developing?

4 - Of course there was a bilateral meeting between President Moon and Premier Li Keqiang as well. I'm sure there must have been much on North Korea they would have exchanged...

5 - We got confirmation this morning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did indeed visit China in the last couple of days and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That's his second trip to China, and this time he even flew there, the first time that has happened since he came to power. What should we take away from this?

6 - Kim was accompanied by his sister Kim Yo-jong, and also by several senior North Korean officials. Among them were Ri Su-young and Choe Son Hui. They're both known to have been responsible for relations with the U.S. Do you think that means anything?

7 - U.S. President Donald Trump is said to have called Xi Jinping and talked about Kim's visit. Does this show the two sides are coordinating with each other?

8 - Of course, another piece of news that we got this morning was that U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has been sent to Pyongyang again, the second time in six weeks. Of course we will wait to see if he meets with Kim Jong-un again, but there are increasing reports that he will come back with the three American citizens currently detained in North Korea. Should we see these developments as a positive sign?

9 - And of course, we can't forget the other big news of the day, Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal. Now obviously this has major implications in the Middle East, but if we stick to North Korea for today, what impact do you think this will have on negotiations with Pyongyang?

Well it's certainly been an interesting day with lots of announcements, but we are still waiting for an announcement on the North Korea-U.S. summit. Thank you again for your time Professor, and we look forward to having you back again soon.

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