Dharamshala, India — The spiritual Leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lamahas written separately to North and South Korean leaders to congratulate them on their historic summit and their pledge to make the Korean Peninsulanuclear weapons free.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during an inter-Korean summit on April 27, 2018, agreed to pursue a permanent peace treaty and denuclearize the Korean peninsula
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has congratulate the North Korean and South Korean leaders "on the pledge they made following recent talks to work to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons and turn the armistice that ended the Korean War into a peace treaty this year."
“As an avowed campaigner for demilitarization throughout the world and the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons,” he wrote, “I wholeheartedly welcome the outcome of your discussions to secure lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, the Nobel Peace Laureate wrote.
“Seeing the immense suffering caused by war and violence in so many different parts of the world is deeply distressing. What [you] have shown is that taking a genuinely peaceful approach and entering into dialogue is the only way to achieve friendship, trust and peace," His Holiness said.
“I profoundly hope these positive developments will contribute to concerted efforts to do away with these dreadful weapons everywhere and secure genuine and enduring peace in our world," the spiritual leader said, adding: “I am confident the international community solidly supports the positive steps that [you] have taken.”
The leaders of North Korea and South Korea — Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, respectively — made their historic agreement in the South Korean village of Panmunjom. The agreement includes a mutual agreement to denuclearize in return for peace, though no concrete steps were outlined. In that vein, the two nations said they would pursue talks with the United States by the end of the year that can bring about an end to the Korean War. Although that conflict is usually described as having lasted from 1950 to 1953, the war was never officially declared to be over. It was resolved with a ceasefire, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed.
In a statement released after their mutual meeting, both Mr. Kim and Mr. Moon declared that "South and North Korea confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula." They emphasized a mutual desire for peaceable relations between the two hostile countries, a fact that was underscored by Kim's mere presence in South Korea. He was the first North Korean leader to ever set foot on South Korean soil and established throughout the meeting a friendly tone that was in marked contrast to the tensions which have defined interactions between the two nations for decades. Moon promised to visit the North Korean capital next year.
