JOY ELLEN YOON — Three Years Since Inter-Korea Peace Talks

April 27, 2021 marks three years since the Inter-Korea Summit between North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-In. The two leaders met in 2018 in Panmunjom along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), an area that marks the divide between the North and the South. The summit was the third ever Inter-Korea summit since the two countries were established in 1948, and it was the first summit within eleven years. Initially, the summit celebrated the successful cooperation at the Winter Olympics that were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but the meeting also gave birth to what became the Panmunjom Declaration.

The Panmunjom Declaration, which was adopted on the same day, was a declaration for peace, prosperity, and reunification of the Korean Peninsula. The two countries agreed to cooperate and officially declare an end to the 70-year-long Korean War. This was to begin a new era of peace and inter-Korean communication. The two country leaders stood together as they declared to the whole world and to the 80 million Korean people that there will be no more war in Korea. Instead, a new era of peace was to be ushered in.

Unfortunately, the Panmunjom Declaration resulted in little progress. The two Koreas can agree on certain terms, but unless the United States also passes legislation to end the Korean War, not much progress can be made. Only the United States has the power to declare an end to the war because South Korea did not have their own military at the time. The U.S. represented the UN nations’ military forces that fought in the war, and as a result, the U.S. is the only country, in cooperation with North Korea, who can declare an official end to the Korean War. And although current legislation in Congress is currently proposing this, the bill has yet to be passed.

The three-year anniversary of the Inter-Korean Summit also has personal meaning for us. Three years ago, we were actually in Pyongyang when this historic moment took place. Sitting together with our North Korean humanitarian counterparts, we were enjoying a bowl of delicious Pyongyang cold noodles when the news of the Summit was aired. It was an exciting time of celebrating with our North Korean colleagues the possibilities of a peaceful future. But because of the U.S. Geographic Travel Restriction and the COVID pandemic, our humanitarian work in the country has since been slow and tedious. We have yet to visit the DPRK this year.

Unfortunately, time is also not on our side. President Moon Jae-In’s administration will soon end. South Korean presidents are elected for five-year terms with no chance of re-election, and President Moon’s term ends in one year on May 9, 2022. It is unlikely that the succeeding South Korean president will be as fully committed to peace as President Moon has been.

Perhaps the next greatest opportunity is the Summer Olympics that are supposed to take place in Japan this year. Just like in the past Winter Olympics, will the two Koreas be able to cooperate and encourage unity between the two nations for the Games? So far, there has been no talk of this.

Not only does the global pandemic make the Games itself uncertain, but the fact that the Olympics will be held in Japan is also not favorable. North Korea has been under a nation-wide lockdown since the COVID-19 outbreak began in February 2020. It is unlikely that they will make an exception for the Olympics, especially since the Games will be held in Japan, a nation with still unresolved past traumas involving both Koreas.

With just one year left before the change in South Korean administration, the ball is in the U.S.’s court. Will the United States cooperate with President Moon to follow through on the yet unfulfilled promises at the Korea Summit? If U.S. Congress finally does declare an end to the 70 plus-year-long Korean War, it could potentially dramatically turn the corner for unprecedented peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.