Category: North Korea

It looks like the U.S. negotiators were not about to drop even limited sanctions for little to nothing in return:

North Korea’s top nuclear envoy on Monday said it was up to the United States to decide whether the two sides will hold further denuclearization talks, pending sufficient change from Washington on its position. 

En route home to Pyongyang after much anticipated working-level discussions with the United States fell apart on Saturday, North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Kim Myong-gil told reporters at Beijing’s Capital International Airport that his recent exchange with the U.S. delegation was “sickening,” making clear his dissatisfaction with the United States’ unchanged position on denuclearization.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I continue to believe that the North Koreans if they don’t get the limited sanctions dropped before the New Year, will create a “crisis” in order to get the deal they want.

It looks like the restarting of Mt. Kumgang Tours and the relaxing of coal sanctions could be concessions made by the U.S. towards North Korea in upcoming talks:

The United States has “unofficially” promised North Korea to offer “low-level” sanctions relief including a partial resumption of tourism at Mount Geumgang in North Korea, two sources familiar with the issue said Thursday.

“Washington’s nuclear negotiating team plans to offer low-level sanctions relief at working-level talks which will take place Oct. 5,” one said asking not to be identified as he wasn’t authorized to officially speak to the media.

The diplomatic source said U.S. negotiators would use this as a “starting point,” adding that the fine details would be worked out as the talks progressed. “No major announcements will come at the working-level talks as the United States is hoping to narrow additional conditions and demands through follow-up discussions. The upcoming U.S.-North Korea talks will directly touch on sanctions relief that Pyongyang will receive,” he told The Korea Times.

Korea Times

Here is the latest on the Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) test the North Koreans recently conducted:

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that North Korea’s latest missile launch appeared to have come from a sea-based platform, not a submarine.

The comments come after North Korea said it successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast Wednesday.

“We assess that it was a short- to medium-range ballistic missile,” JCS spokesman Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder told reporters, adding that it flew some 280 miles (450 kilometers) into the East Sea.

“I would say that we have no indication that it was launched from a submarine but rather a sea-based platform,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but out of all of North Korea’s missiles this is the most dangerous and a game changer because it can defeat missile defenses.  That is because submarines can fire without notice from any direction which prevents missile defense units from knowing in which direction to point their radars towards.

With that said this appears to be a test of missile from an underwater barge, but as we have seen with other North Korean systems, the more they test the better they get.

Here is the latest on the denuclearization talks this weekend in Stockholm:

U.S. and North Korean negotiators were set to hold low-level denuclearization talks in Sweden over the weekend, with both sides signaling cautious optimism despite Pyongyang’s testing of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday.

This marks the first official resumption of denuclearization negotiations in some 220 days since the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended abruptly without a deal in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 28. 

Kim Myong-gil, North Korea’s new top nuclear negotiator, and his delegation arrived at Stockholm Arlanda Airport around 5:40 p.m. Thursday from Beijing. Kim’s delegation was greeted by Swedish officials in the V.I.P. hall for around half an hour. The team left the airport through a V.I.P. exit, avoiding reporters. Black BMW SUVs provided by the Swedish government were spotted parked outside the airport awaiting the delegation and were used to transport it to the North Korean Embassy. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

With former National Security Advisor John Bolton removed, the North Koreans now appear ready to talk:

North Korea and the United States agreed to resume their working-level nuclear talks this week, Pyongyang’s state media reported Tuesday, citing a statement from a senior diplomat.

First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that Washington and Pyongyang agreed to hold “preliminary contact on Oct. 4 and hold working-level negotiations on Oct. 5,” according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Choe did not mention the venue for the upcoming talks.

“The delegates of the DPRK side are ready to enter into the DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations,” Choe said in a statement. DPRK stands for the North’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here are the thoughts from retired U.S. Army Colonel David Maxwell on a recent article in the National Interest about ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton:

Regardless of what you think about Ambassador Bolton I find it incredible that he actually “wants” war with north Korea (or with any country).  We should not confuse the call for ensuring all military options are on the table with “wanting” to go to war.  We need all military options on the table as the best way to support deterrence.But we need to beware of the press, pundits, and politicians who want to revert to “appeasing” north Korea (yes some talk about an arms control process or an action for action process or the relief of sanctions in return for a promise to conduct negotiations).

All use the same flawed assumption that Ambassador Bolton took to task yesterday regarding Kim’s sincerity to actually denuclearize. Ambassador Bolton can be criticized for much and may be wrong in many areas but he is not wrong when he says this: under current circumstances Kim Jong-un will not give up his nuclear weapons program.

David Maxwell

To Moon Chung-in, North Korea's threats to the country that has guaranteed South Korea's security for 70 years, UN & US sanctions designed to check those threats, & South Korea's eagerness to violate those sanctions are all America's fault. Nothing is ever Kim Jong-un's fault. https://t.co/OcAxuN38yX

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) September 24, 2019

Kim Jong-un may be deploying a new submarine:

North Korea is building a new structure to launch submarines at the Sinpo shipyard, presumably for a new sub capable of carrying ballistic missiles.

State media unveiled the new 3,000-ton sub on July 23, when they reported that leader Kim Jong-un visited the shipyard.

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies, a U.S. think tank, and satellite operator Planet Labs spotted the launch structure on recent satellite images of the shipyard, according to NHK Friday. 

Images from Sept. 3 show at least 13 pillar-like objects standing along a quay, with some vehicles moving around. 

On Sept. 12, a large structure straddled the quay and water. And images from Sept. 19 show the structure covering almost the entire quay.

“The structure is now about 100 m long, which is much longer than what is used to build North Korea’s conventional submarines,” NHK said.

Once the sub is launched, the North could have the capability to clandestinely launch ballistic missiles from submarines at the U.S. mainland,.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Well I guess if you can’t get North Korea to denuclearize you can just change the definition to make it look like they are denuclearizing:

The United States and North Korea are in talks to agree on a “mutually-acceptable” definition for “denuclearization,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Monday (KST) in a briefing at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. 

“Since the breakdown in Hanoi, yes, there has been a lot of discussion between Washington and Pyongyang over the issue of the desired end state for denuclearization, and the clarification of actual denuclearization. Lots of interpretations have been used regarding denuclearization as there are different definitions. The upcoming working-level discussions between Washington and Pyongyang will look into that issue, seriously and thoroughly, to gain a clear concept of the term,” the foreign minister said responding to a question from The Korea Times.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this is all leading to what I call “pretend denuclearization“.