Tag: North Korea

Here is more from the standard North Korean negotiating playbook:

North Korea threatened again Thursday to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests, accusing the U.S. of having instigated some members of the U.N. Security Council to condemn its recent weapons tests.

The warning by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry followed the weekend breakdown of North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations in Sweden, the first such talks between the countries in more than seven months. North Korea said the talks collapsed because the U.S. didn’t have any new proposals, and whether it maintains a self-imposed moratorium on major weapons tests was up to Washington.

Some observers say North Korea’s threat may be a tactic to pressure the U.S. into making concessions as a restart of nuclear and long-range missile tests would likely derail negotiations, deepen its international isolation and further dim prospects for rebuilding its moribund economy.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if the Poles return to the DMZ, this time on the Southern side:

Poland, once a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), could re-establish its presence in the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula if asked to do so by its counterparts, said Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz during his recent visit to Seoul. 

“At this moment the Polish mission is unable to implement its mandate in its initial location north of the 38th parallel, because after the political transformation established in Europe in 1989, the DPRK expelled Poland from the DMZ,” Minister Czaputowicz told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday, during his visit to meet with his counterpart South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, using the acronyms for North Korea’s official name, which is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and DMZ for the demilitarized zone, located between the two Koreas. 

As Poland already has an embassy in Pyongyang, established in 1950, the minister was speaking of the presence the Polish government had in the demilitarized zone as a member of the NNSC, from 1953 to 1995. North Korea expelled the Polish presence in 1995 following the collapse of communism in Poland and its joining of NATO in 1989.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

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.