North Korea is keeping vigilant eyes on the United States even after the leaders of the two nations held a historic meeting marked by friendly gestures at the inter-Korean truce village late last month.

Kyodo News reporters traveled Tuesday to Panmunjeom, where U.S. President Donald Trump shook hands with leader Kim Jong Un and became the first sitting U.S. head of state to step into the North.

As a reminder of the turbulent history between the two sides, showcased on the North Korean side of the village were many photos and documents condemning the past "invasion" by U.S. forces, two days before Pyongyang fired what the South suspects were short-range missiles.

Hwang Myong Jin, a 38-year-old lieutenant colonel in the North Korean army acting as a guide, told Kyodo News that, following the impromptu summit between Trump and Kim at the inter-Korean border, his compatriots have yet to change their impression of the U.S. president.

[KCNA/Kyodo]

The armistice that paused the Korean War without a peace agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, at Panmunjeom, which is nowadays pervaded with a peaceful atmosphere and sees up to 2,600 tourists daily.

North Koreans, however, appear to remain cautious about whether Washington will agree to formally end the war that started in 1950 and really offer security guarantees to Pyongyang as promised in return for denuclearization of the divided peninsula.

Western countries including Japan share the view that in the war, the U.S.-led United Nations forces had fought alongside South Korea against the North's invasion of the South supported by China and the Soviet Union.

(Hwang Myong Jin acting as a guide.)

In contrast, North Korea maintains that the United States waged the war in conspiracy with the South to topple the North. Ensuring the continuation of the political system led by the Kim family is a long-sought goal by Pyongyang.

The armistice pact states that within three months of its signing, a political conference should be held "to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc."

A preparatory meeting for the conference took place in December 1953, but the U.S. side "walked out unilaterally" and the talks "broke down," Hwang said, urging Washington to fulfill the agreement.

"Replacing the armistice with a peace treaty -- This is precisely the establishment of a peace mechanism of the Korean Peninsula," he added.

Hwang expressed hope that negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang will move forward, saying "nobody imagined" that Trump and Kim would meet at Panmunjeom -- the only place along the border where troops of the two Koreas directly faced each other.

"You can see from here" the Military Demarcation Line that Trump strode across, Hwang said with a smile, adding it was "much more significant" for the summit to be held there than elsewhere.

In a joint statement issued after the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in June 2018 in Singapore, Trump pledged to provide security guarantees to Pyongyang, while Kim committed to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

At working-level talks ahead of the second Trump-Kim summit in February, the United States and North Korea, which have no diplomatic ties, broadly agreed to take measures to improve bilateral relations.


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The two countries were also preparing to declare an end to the Korean War, but Kim and Trump failed to strike a deal over the scope of denuclearization and the amount of sanctions relief to be granted.

At the June 30 meeting at Panmunjeom, Trump and Kim confirmed Washington and Pyongyang will restart working-level negotiations within weeks. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen when the United States and North Korea will have face-to-face dialogue.

Panmunjeom, located around 170 kilometers from the North Korean capital Pyongyang, is only 50 km away from the South Korean capital Seoul. Amid a thaw in their ties, the two Koreas agreed in September 2018 to remove guns and guard posts from the border village. The demilitarization was completed the following month.

It had been militarized in the wake of an incident in 1976 in which North Korean guards killed two U.S. officers who were cutting down a poplar tree. Since last year the symbol of conflict between Pyongyang and Seoul has turned into one of cooperation.

[Pyeongyang Press Corps]

In April last year, Kim met with South Korean President Moon Jae In at the Peace House, a facility controlled by Seoul in Panmunjeom.

At the first inter-Korean summit in 11 years, Kim and Moon jointly planted a commemorative pine tree around the Military Demarcation Line, in what was billed by the South as a gesture of peace and prosperity.

Hwang said that "for a brighter future," Pyongyang has been in talks with Seoul about whether visitors from the North Korean side will be allowed to enter the Peace House and view the pine tree in the South side.

"Consistently, a peaceful atmosphere has been maintained," Hwang said.

North Korea, meanwhile, has recently warned that it may reconsider its suspension of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests if the United States and South Korea carry out a joint military exercise in August as planned.

On Thursday morning, North Korea launched two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan off its east coast, the South's military said, in an apparent attempt to prod Washington and Seoul into calling off the drill.

Pyongyang is in a state of calmness and stability after the missile firing, with almost all citizens going about their daily routines.