North, South Korea ease military tensions but how close are they to a nuclear-free peninsula?

Diplomacy between North and South Korea continues apace in 2018, and the just-concluded fifth inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang underlines the remarkable depth and breadth of their engagement.

The most significant outcome of the latest meeting was the signing by their respective defence ministers of a deal to reduce military tension along the boundary separating the two countries. The agreement, which military delegations had been working on for months, included important provisions to manage and lower the pressure in the air, on land and at sea.

In the meantime, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been true to his word on providing support for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s economic transformation plans. Earlier this year, Kim adopted a new “strategic line” for his country in which he prioritised economic development and downplayed his nuclear arsenal.

A military parade earlier this month to celebrate the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding underlined this, with several economic floats calling for national development.

Accordingly, the September 19 Pyongyang Declaration agreed by the two leaders includes a promise to “pursue substantial measures to further advance exchanges and cooperation based on the spirit of mutual benefit and shared prosperity”.

The two sides are enthusiastically pushing ahead, even as South Korea’s ability to make good on many of its promises will be limited by the international sanctions in place against the North.

The fifth inter-Korean summit – the third between Moon and Kim this year – also saw the South Korean president serve as more of a direct mediator between the United States and North Korea than before. For Moon, while progress on inter-Korean issues was a critical impetus for the summit, revivifying the flagging US-North Korea diplomatic process was a greater priority in the weeks leading up to his latest encounter with Kim.