The frost has melted with the onset of summer, and this is more than a symptom of the changing weather. It was a historic grandstanding not merely in the continent of Asia but in the wider canvas of international game-theory no less.

Beyond the profound signals of intent and gestures of friendship, it would be tempting to aver that the armistice, that ended the Korean war in 1953, graduated to an unofficial peace treaty on Friday, if the joint declaration is any indication ~ “The two leaders solemnly declared before the 80 million Korean people and the whole world that there will be no more war on the Korean peninsula and thus a new era of peace has begun.”

That statement of intent has been clothed with the pledge to establish a “permanent and solid peace regime”. There is also a measure of pregnant symbolism in the fact that history was crafted in the strategic town of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone. It was symbolic too that Kim received a hug from Moon and even took his hand to step into the North for a brief while.

That said, both North and South Korea, under Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, will now have to strive sincerely to achieve results. This was very pertinently underscored by Kim himself ~ “We should make good results by talking frankly about current issues.” It scarcely needs to be underlined that “current issues” have only been exacerbated by Kim. Further comment on the summit ~ weeks ahead of Kim’s meeting with Donald Trump ~ must await the evolution of developments.

Friday’s one-on-one has indubitably heightened the world’s interest in next month’s Trump-Kim summit. Dramatic indeed has been the change of stance considering that both countries have been through a frightful phase in recent months. Only a few months ago, North Korean missile tests and Trump’s threats of “fire and fury” ~ in response to Pyongyang’s muscle-flexing against the South and the US ~ had caused considerable alarm across the region.

For all the bonhomie, both sides are acutely aware of the red herrings across the trail. In an oblique reference to possible obstacles, the communique states that a peace treaty to formally end the war will require trilateral or quadrilateral talks, drawing in the United States and probably China as well.

Clearly, there is a stakeholder too many not least Japan, which while welcoming the summit of the Koreas, has expressed misgivings that the US is neglecting its interests. The joint statement has confirmed the common objective of “denuclearising the peninsula”. However, Kim stopped short of mentioning such a potentially momentous prospect in his remarks.

Chiefly for North Korea, the objectives include the removal of the US nuclear umbrella, now under Trump’s coterie of hawks, pre-eminently John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. Kim has eventually spoken of peace, but he remains a brutal dictator. Beyond the smiles and handshakes, peace must hold.