Hopes for Korean Peninsula progress should be nourished

The "openhearted talk" between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un and envoys for the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang on Monday marks major progress in efforts to defuse the tensions on the Korean Peninsula after more than a year of verbal exchanges between Pyongyang and Washington threatening war.

That it is the first time Kim has met any ROK officials in person since he took power in late 2011 raises the hope the rapprochement this time may not just be a repeat of the thaw-to-tension cycle that has been witnessed before.

Thus it is welcome news that Kim's call for a summit meeting to promote "dialogue, contact, cooperation and exchange" during his four-hours with the ROK envoys has been accepted by Seoul.

Pyongyang cannot blame others if the concrete steps it has been taking lately to improve inter-Korea ties, including its participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the ROK last month, are greeted with a degree of caution, as the world has seen it extend the olive branch before only for it to continue with its nuclear and missile programs afterwards.

But this time there is a difference as the head of the ROK delegation stated on Tuesday that Pyongyang said it had no need to possess nuclear weapons if there is no military threat against it, and it explicitly expressed its willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, a willingness the world wants to see it act upon.

It has made it clear it considers such weapons a necessity for survival — something that US President Donald Trump's talk of "fire and fury" only served to reinforce, recalling as it did the US’ saturation bombing of the DPRK during the Korean War. The annual joint military drills between the US and the ROK, postponed for the Winter Olympics and set to resume later this spring, also serve to amplify Pyongyang's existential angst.

Washington should not believe that by simply possessing such weapons the DPRK will incite violence against the United States. What Pyongyang wants is a peace treaty and security guarantees.

Instead of threats and war drills, the US needs to realize that to promote peace requires it to demonstrate to the DPRK a disposition of benevolence that can overcome Pyongyang’s mistrust and belief that the US' real aim is regime change.

Washington should take its cue from the outcome of the meetings between Kim and the ROK envoys and seize this opportunity as the best way to prevent the rhetoric of war being realized.