North, South Korean leaders say they'll never repeat 'unfortunate history,' but don't say how
The leaders of North and South Korea declared after their historic summit on April 27 that they will never repeat past mistakes of failing to follow through on bilateral agreements to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and ease military tensions.
"This marks the starting point of our move toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We'll never go backward," South Korean President Moon Jae-in told reporters at a joint news conference in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone on April 27, 2018 following the signing of their joint declaration.
"We'll strive to make achievements and avoid repeating the unfortunate history of past South-North agreements," North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the same press conference.
The Panmunjeom Declaration the two leaders released appears to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump, who claimed before the U.S.-North Korea summit talks that North Korea had continually deceived the United States.
But the joint declaration does not specifically define "complete denuclearization." At the news conference, Moon stated, "The North's measure to freeze its nuclear program is of great significance," but did not elaborate or say how Pyongyang's abandonment of nuclear arms would be verified.
Kim stated that North Korea "will thoroughly implement North-South declarations adopted in the past," though he did not clarify which declarations he was referring to.
A high-ranking official of the Blue House, South Korea's presidential office and residence, explained that Seoul has already outlined the level of denuclearization it is demanding from North Korea.
"'Complete denuclearization is specifically described in the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (that came into force in 1992)," the official said.
The 1992 declaration states that "the North and South shall not test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons." The document also incorporates a ban on the possession of uranium enrichment facilities. North Korea, however, has ignored this declaration, rendering it a dead letter.
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180427/p2a/00m/0na/029000c
The view from Japan.