Apparently emboldened by a rare inter-Korean deal on defusing tensions and promoting exchanges, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy last week expressed hope for fresh momentum in efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Speaking at a forum in Seoul on Friday, he expected the nuclear issue to be discussed directly between the two Koreas.

His anticipation seems still far from being realized, given remarks made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party he convened days after the inter-Korean accord was announced.

According to a report by the North’s state news agency, which did not disclose when the meeting was held, Kim spoke highly of the deal reached Tuesday after marathon talks, saying it put strained inter-Korean relations on the track of reconciliation and trust. 

But he insisted peace was restored due to the North’s “tremendous military muscle with the nuclear deterrent for self-defense.” He said the recent tensions on the peninsula underscored again the need to put priority on bolstering its military capability. Kim went on to specify strategic tasks and ways of carrying them out, which the report did not elaborate on.

His remarks showed the North Korean ruler had no intention of abandoning his regime’s nuclear arsenal.

Still, Seoul should try to rebuild momentum toward international cooperation in getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons programs and take the course of reform and openness. The improvement of inter-Korean ties in the process of implementing last week’s accord may help the South take a proactive role in strengthening and coordinating international efforts to denuclearize the North.

President Park needs to put the focus of the forthcoming summits with her Chinese and U.S. counterparts on rebuilding the impetus toward the settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue.

Her attendance at the massive military parade to be held in Beijing on Thursday to mark the end of World War II will be symbolic of fundamental changes in China’s ties with South and North Korea. China appeared to have departed from its ambiguous position between the two Koreas in coping with the North’s latest provocations that heightened military tensions on the peninsula.

During her summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Park should seek China’s assurance that it will put more pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons programs. Her effort to get China to commit more seriously to denuclearizing the North may help ease U.S. concern about Seoul’s closer ties with Beijing. It will also give weight to her call for the U.S. to be more active in addressing the North Korean nuclear issue when she meets with President Barack Obama in Washington next month. 

What may be encouraging for Seoul is that while the U.S. and China have clashed over the South China Sea, cybersecurity and human rights, they have maintained cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear programs, albeit in a less intensive way than in reaching an accord with Iran.

It is an idea worth considering that the U.S., China and the two Koreas hold separate peace talks in parallel with the six-party negotiations also involving Japan and Russia on dismantling the North’s nuclear arsenal.