The Republic of Korea (ROK) security advisor says that Kim Jong un has said that he is committed to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean minister said that President Trump has agreed to meet Kim Jung-un by May. These forthright declarations from the minister, Chung Eui-yong, may or may not tell the world just what is going to happen, but the press statement late Thursday sounds groundbreaking. Chung Eui-yong was the leader of a delegation from Seoul to Pyongyang in recent days at which all of this was discussed. It seems stunning that the north, which has never conceded it might disarm, has actually said this to the South. Then there is the complex issue of verification. If the North has had a genuine change, it is profound. Until now, it has been a state that has relied in simple terror to maintain itself. Denuclearization carries the prospect of foreign intrusion in a way that must give Kim and his insiders the shivers.
