The US and China on Friday backed the two Koreas discussing a peace deal that could officially end the Korean War during an inter-Korean summit next week, giving a boost to efforts to build a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. 

The US and China, together with North Korea, are signatories to the armistice, which left the two Koreas technically still at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

“We would certainly like to see an end, a formal end to the armistice, and that’s something that we would support,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said during a regular press briefing.

US President Donald Trump, who is planning to hold his own meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in May or in early June, said earlier the Koreas have his “blessing” to discuss the end of the Korean War, if North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal.

South Korea confirmed on Wednesday that it is considering how to change a decadesold armistice with North Korea into a peace treaty as it prepares for the inter-Korean summit to be held on the South Korean side of Panmunjeom on April 27.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also told a regular press briefing in Beijing that China supported declaring an end to the Korean War.

“China supports ending the state of war on the peninsula at an early date,” she said. “As a party involved in the peninsular issue, China is willing to play an active role.”

Declaring an end to the Korean War would involve discussions beyond the two Koreas as the armistice agreement is a multilateral treaty signed by North Korea, the US-led United Nations command and China. South Korea was not a direct signatory to the agreement as then-South Korean President Rhee Syngman opposed the idea.

A peace treaty is thought to be one of the measures to guarantee the North Korean regime’s security in return for the communist state agreeing to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

During the inter-Korean summit, the two Koreas are expected to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization, ways to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and improve inter-Korean ties.

South Korea strives to maintain close coordination with allied and neighboring countries ahead of the summit.

Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s top nuclear negotiator, plan to hold a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi in Seoul on Monday to discuss North Korea and its nuclear issue, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Lee is also likely to meet Susan Thornton, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Thornton will arrive here Sunday for a three-day stay during which she is expected to meet Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)