US ready to resume N Korea talks, seeks denuclearisation by Jan 2021
WASHINGTON: The US has said it is ready to resume negotiations with North Korea after Pyongyang pledged to shut key missile facilities and offered to close its main nuclear complex, in exchange for an unspecified “corresponding step” by Washington.
“On the basis of these important commitments, the US is prepared to engage immediately in negotiations,” secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday.
He added that he has invited his North Korean counterpart, foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, to meet next week in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The US expects these talks to lead to a meeting of representatives from the two countries in Vienna, Austria, at the earliest.
“This will mark the beginning of negotiations to transform US-DPRK relations through the process of rapid denuclearisation of North Korea to be completed by January 2021,” Pompeo said.
Negotiations between the US and North Korea have been stalled since the June summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
Kim has called for a second summit with Trump, and has written a letter to the American leader, which the White House described as “very warm, very positive”.
Trump seemingly approved of Kim’s offer, tweeting: “Kim Jong Un has agreed to allow Nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations, and to permanently dismantle a test site and launch pad in the presence of international experts. In the meantime there will be no Rocket or Nuclear testing.”
On Thursday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the US to declare an end to the Korean War as an incentive for North Korea to denuclearise — the bloody conflict was halted only with an armistice.
“He again and again reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearisation,” Moon said in Seoul after a three-day trip to the North. “He said he wanted to achieve compete denuclearisation as soon as possible and focus on economic development.”
China, North Korea’s most important economic backer and diplomatic ally, warmly welcomed the agreement reached in Pyongyang and strongly supported it.
“We absolutely cannot let this hard to come by opportunity for peace slip away once again,” the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said in a statement.