Declaring an end to the Korean War is central to ongoing negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, a top South Korean official said Monday as North Korea and the US scramble to arrange the US-North Korea summit. 

“Ultimately, denuclearization and guaranteeing the North Korean regime can be considered the axis of the agenda (for the US-North Korea summit),” a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official said on the condition of anonymity.

“The South-North-US trilateral declaration of the end of war that President Moon Jae-in spoke of is part of the regime guarantee.”

The official was referring to Moon’s idea of the three countries declaring an end to the Korean War, most recently reiterated at Sunday’s press conference on his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Moon and Kim had met at the North’s side of Panmunjeom on Saturday.

At the press conference, Moon said that he hopes for a three-way summit to discuss the matter if the US-North Korea summit proves successful. Moon also said that he has high hopes for the US-North Korea summit, and that Kim has stressed his commitment to denuclearization.

The Cheong Wa Dae official’s comments follow revelations that the US and North Korea are holding or preparing to hold a meeting through at least three channels.

On Sunday it was revealed that US and North Korean officials were discussing issues related to the agenda of the US-North Korean summit, on the North’s side of Panmunjeom.

The US delegation is headed by Sung Kim, current US ambassador to the Philippines and former special envoy to the six-party talks on denuclearization of North Korea. Sung Kim’s delegation also includes the US National Security Council’s Korea specialist Allison Hooker and Randall Schriver.

Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, had accompanied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang earlier this month when three US citizens were released.

Pyongyang is said to have sent Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, whose recent attack on the US administration had played a role in prompting US President Donald Trump to initially call off the meeting.

In addition to the talks in Panmunjeom, Trump also hinted that the two sides met in the US.

“I just want to mention, we’re doing very well in terms of the summit with North Korea. It looks like it’s going along very well,” Trump told reporters on Saturday (US time).

“As you know, there are meetings going on as we speak, in a certain location, which I won’t name. But you’d like the location; it’s not so far away from here.”

The comment has sparked speculations that the US leader was referring to New York, the location of North Korea’s mission to the UN.

Meanwhile, another North Korean delegation was speculated to be headed to Singapore via Beijing on Monday. According to reports, Kim Chang-son -- a close aide of North Korea’s ruling Kim family and high-level party official -- arrived in Beijing early Monday to board a flight to Singapore.

In Singapore, Kim Chang-son is expected to meet with the US delegation led by White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin and discuss summit-related issues, including logistics and security. 

Kim Chang-son, described by local media as the Kim family’s “butler,“ had also been spotted heading back to Pyongyang from Beijing on Saturday, feeding speculations of another meeting between the North Korean leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

The speculation was fanned further by South Korean lawmaker Rep. Park Jie-won of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace.

Park, who served as a close aide to late President Kim Dae-jung, claimed on a radio show on Monday that Kim Chang-son’s visit to Beijing last week concerned problems with the North Korean leader‘s jet, and that Kim Jong-un may meet with Xi before meeting Trump in Singapore. 

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)