NEW YORK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The landmark Singapore summit between top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump was a commendable, historic achievement by both sides, said U.S. experts.
"Grand, overarching and forward-looking principles that form a durable basis for peace, reconciliation and prosperity have been agreed upon," said Sourabh Gupta, senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington, D.C., in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.
"The broad principles that were enunciated and exchanged and the consensus that was thereafter arrived at was a landmark one which, if fulfilled, will usher the peninsula onto a qualitatively different and much more hopeful trajectory," Gupta said.
Avery Goldstein, professor of Global Politics and International Relations at University of Pennsylvania, viewed the first summit between the DPRK and U.S. incumbent leaders since the 1950-53 Korean War as "a first step" for the denuclearization and establishment of a peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula.
Goldstein pointed out that the summit, "at a minimum", made a military conflict between the DPRK and the United States "less likely in the near future", and the de-escalation of tensions that began with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics is "a good thing."
"If there is to be a successful outcome, and not just a summit that is a first step, it will require a series of steps that are negotiated in detail," he said.
"Progress will depend on each side keeping the process on track, allowing technical experts and policy professionals to do their jobs," he added.
Michael Swaine, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that both countries should build upon the positive developments achieved so far, "this development signifies the kind of outcome that many predicted would signify an alternative 'best case': a freeze with a vague commitment to denuclearize."
Otherwise, the two sides would "soon return to the earlier threats and tensions," he said.
Kim and Trump signed a joint statement after their meeting Tuesday in Singapore. Trump was committed to providing security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders conducted a "comprehensive, in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions" on issues related to the establishment of a new DPRK-U.S. relationship and building a lasting and robust peace regime on the peninsula, the joint statement said.
