Tag: North Korea

Donald Trump's 'greed' for Nobel prize fuels fears in South Korea of risky concessions https://t.co/CESuw4Xd29

— David Maxwell (@DavidMaxwell161) February 21, 2019

Does anyone believe that Kim Jong-un really wants to denuclearize for this reason?:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last year that he intends to abandon his nuclear weapons program for the sake of his children, a former U.S. intelligence official said Friday.
Kim made the remark when Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang in April 2018 to confirm the regime’s stated willingness to denuclearize, according to Andrew Kim, who retired at the end of last year as head of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Korea Mission Center.
“We asked, specifically, the director, Pompeo, asked Chairman Kim: Do you really intend to denuclearize? And the way he replied was that, the chairman said: You know, I’m a father and I’m a husband and I have children and I don’t want my children to carry the nuclear weapon in their bag to live through their entire life. That was his answer,” Kim said during a talk at Stanford University. Pompeo was director of the CIA prior to becoming secretary of state.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

NKorean defector and ex-diplomat Thae Yong Ho says Pyongyang never posed real threat of war but “Trump fell into Kim Jong Un’s trap” by seeking peace before denuclearization pic.twitter.com/3LY9UuTeUU

— Kim Gamel (@kimgamel) February 19, 2019

It looks like the North Korean military is now dragging their feet in regards to cooperation with the ROK military:

 South and North Korea appear to have struggled to move forward their 2018 military accord aimed at reducing tensions and building trust amid a lack of progress in denuclearization and a focus on a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang, observers said Tuesday.
Since the beginning of this year, the two Koreas have held few talks over the implementation of the accord, in stark contrast to fast progress in the first three months after their defense chiefs signed it in September.
Pyongyang has recently been preoccupied with preparations for the second summit between leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled to take place on Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
If the summit produces tangible results, it could help facilitate the implementation of the military agreement and other peace-building measures on the peninsula.
“This year, inter-Korean consultations have rarely been held, though there have been exchanges of documents (about the accord),” a government source said on condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

It appears the North Korean military did what they had to do to create the perception of progress. They are likely not going to do much more until they get what they want such as a peace treaty and sanctions dropped.

It looks like the Kim regime is not happy with what the Trump administration is offering for the Trump-Kim II Summit and have had President Moon send out his trial balloon guru Moon Chung-in to let Washington know of their displeasure:

Only North Koreans can dismantle nuclear and missile facilities in North Korea, not international experts, according to President Moon Jae-in’s security adviser, Moon Chung-in.

Moon said Washington should offer some substantial concessions beyond opening a liaison office in Pyongyang to make the upcoming second Washington-Pyongyang summit successful.

He made the remarks in an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun.

“Only North Korean technicians are able to disband its nuclear warheads safely and completely,” said Moon, special adviser for unification, diplomacy and national security.

“This is because the North Korean experts designed and outlined core specifics of its nuclear facilities and entirely handled the nuclear development. It’s required for the United States to offer a rewards programs to help the regime remain cooperative in the ongoing collective work toward dismantling its nuclear program.”

The adviser didn’t say whether the U.S. officially asked North Korea to hand over a list of nuclear experts who were directly involved in the development of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as one of the prerequisites to comply with Washington’s repeated calls to disband its nuclear program, verifiably and completely.

North Korea tested its first ICBM ― the Hwasong-14 ― on July 4, 2017, shocking the world by demonstrating advanced capabilities beyond what many believed possible for the rogue country.

The Trump administration initially refused to believe it, but later acknowledged that North Korea had, in fact, launched an ICBM. ICBMs are regarded as a direct threat to the U.S. mainland, though it’s still unconvinced North Korea has mastered warhead miniaturization, re-entry systems and missile guidance due to technological challenges. 

The presidential aide told the Japanese daily that North Korea “would be dissatisfied” if the United States only agreed to end the Korean War and open a liaison office in the North Korean capital as these are “superficial and not something relating to actual economic benefits the North want.”

“An early restart of economic projects with South Korea such as reopening of Gaeseong Industrial Complex and other economic projects are needed, as one evident point is Kim Jong-un most wants sanctions relief to revive his country’s dilapidated economy with financial assistance from the restarts of now-halted inter-Korean business projects,” Moon said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Kim Jong-un may visit a Samsung factory during his trip to Vietnam. I suspect that such a visit will be used to further the perception that he has changed and really wants to advance the DPRK economy and thus why sanctions should be dropped before denuclearization:

 A senior North Korean official is believed to have looked around areas near a smartphone factory in Vietnam owned by South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., sources said Sunday.
The move is prompting speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may seek to visit the Samsung factory when he travels to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim Chang-son, known as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s de facto chief of staff, and other officials arrived in Hanoi Saturday to check logistics for a second summit between Trump and Kim slated for Feb. 27-28.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

So now it looks like the Korean War Peace Treaty is off the table for the Trump-Kim II Summit:

Kyodo News reports Washington has floated to Pyongyang the idea of adopting a nonaggression or peace declaration act as they prepare for summit talks in Vietnam later this month.

The Japanese news agency on Friday quoted a number of U.S. and Japanese government sources familiar with the matter. 

The sources said Washington made the proposal in order to entice North Korea into making concessions related to denuclearization by guaranteeing the security of the North Korean regime. 

However, the report said it is uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the second U.S.-North Korea summit, given Pyongyang’s continued reluctance to declare its nuclear weapons and missile programs.  

The report said the U.S. initially sought to declare an official end to the Korean War but decided against the idea after assessing that it would be difficult to get support on the matter from relevant countries, including South Korea and China, in a short period of time.

KBS World Radio

Two years ago today(2/13), Kim Jong-un assassinated his half-brother using VX chemical nerve agent in an airport. People easily forget… pic.twitter.com/x1rmCu0HXV

— William Kim 김영권 (@NKMESSENGER) February 13, 2019