US offers help on denuclearization

China ‘pleased’ with momentum to ease tensions on peninsula

Momentum continues to gather between Washington and Pyongyang, with the United States offering conditional support on security and private investment, a month ahead of a historic summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that if the DPRK achieves denuclearization, the US would commit to Pyongyang’s security.

“This has been the trade-off that has been pending for 25 years. No president has ever put America in a position where the North Korean (DPRK’s) leadership thought that this was truly possible that the Americans would actually do this,” Pompeo told the Fox News.

Ahead of the summit on June 12 in Singapore between Trump and Kim, the DPRK announced on Saturday that it will destroy its nuclear test site later this month. Trump hailed the gesture as “very smart and gracious”, and Pompeo said it is “good news” and “one step along the way”.

“If we get denuclearization, of course, there will be sanctions relief, certainly. There’ll be more than that,” Pompeo said. But he said the US would not be willing to invest taxpayer dollars to help the DPRK.

‘Real prosperity’

“What Chairman Kim will get from America is our finest — our entrepreneurs, our risk takers, our capital providers . ... They will get private capital that comes in. North Korea is desperately in need of energy ... for their people. They are in great need of agricultural equipment and technology,” Pompeo said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

“We can create conditions for real economic prosperity for the North Korean people that will rival that of South Korea (the Republic of Korea).”

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, also said in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union that the DPRK should not “look for economic aid from us”.

“I think the prospect for North Korea is to become a normal nation, to behave and interact with the rest of the world the way South Korea does,” he said, according to The Associated Press.

China gave a “positive appraisal” of Pompeo’s pledge that the DPRK can look forward to “a future brimming with peace and prosperity” if it agrees to quickly give up its nuclear weapons, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday.

“It is pleasing that the momentum of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula is consolidating due to concerted efforts of all parties, and moving toward the direction of facilitating political resolution,” he said.

China has always proposed political resolution of tensions on the peninsula through dialogue, Lu said, the reasonable concerns of all parties should be solved in a balanced way, especially Pyongyang’s just concerns for its own safety while promoting denuclearization, in order to realize longlasting peace and stability there.

“We encourage all related parties to meet each other half way, speak and act in a way that is conducive to demonstrating goodwill, easing tensions, promoting dialogue and enhancing mutual trust,” he said.

Contact the writers at huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com