The ruling Democratic Party(DP) and three minor parties have expressed anticipation about the U.S.-North Korea summit underway in Hanoi, while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party(LKP) maintained its hardline position that Pyongyang must not be provided with sanctions relief until it fully denuclearizes. 

DP Floor Leader Hong Young-pyo said during a party meeting on Thursday that the party anticipates a successful summit after watching U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet on Wednesday. 

Hong said the party expects the summit will yield detailed denuclearization measures and corresponding sanctions relief, and even an agreement on formally ending the Korean War. 

Head of the minor conservative Bareunmirae Party, Sohn Hak-kyu, said he hopes the Hanoi summit will be a success so that peace will be realized on the Korean Peninsula and inter-Korean cooperation will get back on track. Sohn also expressed hope that a new order will be created in Northeast Asia, ushering in a new era of inclusion. 

Meanwhile, the LKP expressed concern that the Hanoi summit will end with the North’s promise to simply freeze, instead of dismantle, its nuclear weapons programs. LKP Floor Leader Na Kyung-won said there is yet to be word from Hanoi about a road map for the North’s denuclearization.

[Photo : YONHAP News]