The plurals in the title are intentional. Everybody is euphoric about the recent meeting, smiles, talks and toasts at the Peace House on the demarcation line zone in Korea. And we should all be very pleased with any sort of progress and hopes for a lasting peace are well founded.

Of course, all these hopes could be dashed and reverting to the Cold War and, recently, almost hot war situation in this part of the world can quickly happen. In fact, the last two rapprochement attempts have failed.

I remember studying international law in the 1960s, and probably law students worldwide would also remember that, until the late 1980s, one of the recurrent and constant exam questions asked of law students, was: “Is there one Germany or two?” The answer was obvious, that there was one Germany at law and that reunification was a foregone conclusion and only a matter of time.

We are here faced with an identical situation: “Is there one Korea or two?” The answer in my opinion is the same as in the German question. There is one Korea and there will, one day, be a reunification.

However, in my opinion, and unlike in the German case, it need not be the victory of one ideology over another but rather something different. It will signify a shift of the world fulcrum. I will be one of the lynchpins of the advance of the Far East. Of Asia over the West.

What the two Koreas of today have in common unites them more than the recent history, the communist ideology and the personality cult of the dictatorial family in the North divides them.

What unites them is their Korean heritage, their Korean history. Korea has, traditionally, and over many centuries, been a dominant country in the region. Throughout their long history they have occupied neighbouring countries and threatened their neighbours in the south of China, in Japan and beyond.

It is this knowledge, this pride in their organisational capacity, the discipline of their peoples and their creativity coupled with their geography and with a population of over 80 million, that one can catch a glimpse of in the smiles on the faces of both Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.

With a population the size of Germany and an economy that competes equally with Germany in technology, the possibility is for Korea to become the Germany of Asia

Their joint declaration indicates to me their common intention to: unite the peninsula and create the new state of Korea; to create economic progress for all Koreans; to bring about a peace treaty to the Korean War (this will need all powers who signed the armistice i.e. the US, China, and the two Koreas to agree); to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

I believe the order in which these rather blasé declarations were listed is very important. First, these declarations are very similar to those signed in 2000 and in 2007 and which all proved completely useless since there was no intention of the North to change their regime.

They were also toothless because South Korea, then, was still economically weak and just beginning on its march to becoming the economic giant it is today.

They were useless then because the US and China were still very much in the Cold War stance and attitudes towards each other.

The world then was not the world of today. We are now at the end of an unprecedented period of economic globalisation that has brought China to the fore and opened its economy and its country, that has seen the weakening of the US and even, with Trump today, its retreat into isolationism and protectionism.

These changes seem to give to the Koreans a signal that their time to join up together is riper now than ever. With the economy and innovative spirit of the South and the cheap labour and the nuclear deterrent in the North, the marriage of these two elements would bring to the reunited country with a population the size of Germany and an economy that competes equally with Germany in technology, the possibility to become the Germany of Asia.

If I were to look for the thermometer, the gauge, by which to measure the chances of this reunification taking place, I would look towards the comments and worries of Shinzo Abe of Japan.

Japan, is, and has always been the enemy of Korea. Abe’s comments and his facial expression signify a serious fear. Not a fear of war or nuclear attacks, but a fear of an economic competitor, a competitor for the minds and hearts of Asians in the challenge for leadership in that part of the world. A Korea united with a large population and a nuclear deterrent would have much more say in the world than an ageing Japan, with its pacifist foreign policy and growing dependency on the US.

A serious look at the declaration also shows up what the main intention on denuclearisation really is. Whereas the US speaks of denuclearisation of North Korea, the joint declaration speaks of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. The difference is that the US, which locates missiles and nuclear submarines as well as aircraft carriers in the region would have to retreat, leaving Korea to defend itself. I do not think the US is ready to leave the peninsula with its military forces.

Since it would take all the armistice powers agreement to sign the peace treaty, it is in the interests of China that the US reduces its presence and eliminates its nuclear presence in exchange for reunification, peace and slow elimination of nuclear weapons capacity in the Korean peninsula.

Can this reunification scenario succeed? Only Kim Jung-un can make it happen.

Have the two leaders negotiated a safe retreat for him and his family? Has a deal been struck between them to bring economic revival and democracy to North Korea allowing forgiveness for past crimes and a safe retreat and economic security to the dynasty?

The smiles are deceptive since enigma is the trade mark of oriental negotiators.

The world is waiting, and the West cannot dictate its terms.

Who will be the winners and who the losers? I see Koreans and China as the big winners, Japan and the US as the losers. Globalisation and trade will benefit and the beginning of the end of the Pax Americana era.

John Vassallo is a former senior counsel and director for EU affairs at General Electric, a former vice-president EU affairs and associate general counsel Microsoft and a former ambassador of Malta to the EU.