The failure of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at last week’s summit to reach an agreement on denuclearization and steps to build a “lasting and stable peace regime” between the two Koreas, as called for in last June’s Singapore Summit declaration, heightens the importance of North and South Korea making further progress in their efforts to create a comprehensive peace and security regime on the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has sought to slow down this initiative, so it would not get in front of stalled US-DPRK denuclearization negotiations. With the prospect that these negotiations could be on a slow track for some time, the two Koreas, with the support of the US, should shift to a higher gear in their discussions on confidence building measures (CBMs) and launch a dialogue on conventional force reductions to further reduce the risk of war....
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