Korean Lawmakers Call for Renewed US-North Korea Summit Talks

A group of South Korean lawmakers has proposed a parliamentary resolution calling for the swift resumption of talks between North Korea and the United States, adding a new legislative push to efforts aimed at easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The resolution urges renewed diplomatic engagement between Washington and Pyongyang and calls for work toward a permanent peace framework for the peninsula. It was led by Democratic Party lawmaker Song Young-gil and signed by 83 other lawmakers from the ruling party. Two lawmakers from the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, independent lawmaker Choi Hyuck-jin and People Power Party lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae also joined the proposal. Cho was the only member of the main opposition party to sign it.

The initiative also asks the South Korean government to support a Korean American civic group’s plan to organize a civilian delegation if US President Donald Trump travels to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The proposed delegation would include Korean Americans and members of families separated from relatives in North Korea.

The Korean American Public Action Committee has said it intends to arrange the delegation should such a summit take place. The plan places divided families, whose opportunities for direct contact have remained severely limited, alongside the wider diplomatic objective of restarting high-level negotiations.

Speaking at a National Assembly press conference, Song linked the resolution to support in the US House of Representatives for the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. That measure seeks to replace the Korean War armistice with a peace agreement and establish normalized diplomatic relations. Song said South Korea’s government and parliament should serve as a pacemaker in efforts to facilitate a US-North Korea summit.

He also called for a South Korean parliamentary delegation to visit Washington and seek support from US lawmakers. The proposal does not itself restart negotiations or commit either Washington or Pyongyang to a meeting, but it signals support among a broad group of lawmakers for renewed diplomacy.

Any summit would depend on decisions by the US and North Korean leaders, while progress toward a peace framework would require sustained negotiations among the governments concerned. The resolution nevertheless creates a formal vehicle for lawmakers to press Seoul to take a more active role in encouraging dialogue and building political support for engagement.