Tag: North Korea

It appears the North Koreans are up to their usual negotiating tricks:

North Korea will return to nuclear disarmament talks with the United States despite last week’s breakdown in Sweden, as it intentionally made the decision to leave the first negotiations early to increase its political leverage, experts said Monday.

Ending a months-long hiatus in their denuclearization dialogue, officials from Washington and Pyongyang met in Stockholm amid expectations of a possible breakthrough in the suspended talks.

But Pyongyang declared a breakdown just a few hours after the meeting started in the Swedish capital. It stepped up criticism of Washington for sticking to an “old-fashioned” attitude, even after the fiasco of the failed Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

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

Considering how close Prime Minister Abe is with President Trump, this could be a sign that the U.S. has a deal in the works that the Japanese want to be part of:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he wants to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even though he keeps testing missiles. At the same time, Abe gave a cold shoulder to South Korea amid tensions over wartime history.

In a policy speech opening the parliamentary session, Abe said he will take any chance to meet Kim.

“I’m determined to face Chairman Kim Jong Un, without attaching any preconditions,” Abe said, after changing his policy earlier this year. “Based on a level-headed analysis, I will act decisively so that I won’t miss any chance.”

Abe used to say he would meet Kim only when there is progress on denuclearization and the decades-old issue of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. But he changed his tune after other regional leaders, including those in China, South Korea and Russia, choose to meet Kim.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

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