South Korean opposition leader warns Trump about Kim

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

U.S. President Donald Trump should withdraw from his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unless the authoritarian state agrees to denuclearize in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, according to South Korea's main conservative leader Thursday.

"If any moderate deal provides North Korea with assistance, there is a risk that Pyongyang would advance its nuclear and missile programs, posing a threat," Liberty Korea Party (LKP) chairman Hong Joon- was quoted as telling reporters by Yonhap News Agency.

Hong's warning came five days before Trump is scheduled to meet Kim in Singapore, and also less than a week before local elections seen as a litmus test for popular President Moon Jae-in's liberal government.

South Korean conservatives have been traditionally more aligned with the U.S. than Moon's Democratic Party, especially by stressing the importance of a decades-long military alliance with Washington.

But Moon has stayed in close contact with Trump since they both took office last year, while the U.S. leader has shaken up Seoul's political expectations by agreeing to meet Kim without any guarantee they will be able to reach a denuclearization agreement.

Contrary to Moon's push for a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which some analysts expect may happen next week if a peace treaty can finally be signed, Hong dismissed the plan until after the North abandons its nukes.

Condemning Pyongyang's "fake peace show", Hong added that "a possible cut or withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the South should also not be on the table".