International relations experts say there are no permanent friends in politics; there can only be permanent interests. That is why they deleted the word, Never, from their lexicon.
The latest development in the relations between North and South Korea buttresses the point. The two Koreas have agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit. A terse statement released some days after North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, made his surprise trip to China, said, “According to the will of both leaders, the South and North agreed to hold the ‘2018 South-North summit’ on April 27 at the South’s Peace House in Panmunjom”.
The impending meeting between Kim Jong-Un, leader of North Korea, and the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, will be the third of its kind. Incidentally, it will be followed by another surprise talks between Kim Jong-Un and US President, Donald Trump, next month.
The venue will make Kim the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the end of the Korean War. It is believed that the agenda would include how to keep the Korean peninsula nuclear-free.
The officials of the two Koreas will continue their talks this Wednesday on issues such as protocol and security. The coming summit at the end of this month will rank after the summits in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.
Since the new millennium, North Korea is believed to be developing nuclear weapons, attracting multiple rounds of sanctions by the UN Security Council, the US and European Union. Tensions in the region have soared, with Presidents Kim and Trump hauling insults at one another across the oceans since last year.
However, the Winter Olympics hosted by South Korea ushered in fresh breath at all fronts. Events have moved quickly since then, with a flurry of official visits between the two Koreas. Détente seems to be in the air. Even if it flops, the world will cheer the effort and look towards the future.
