Moon presses Trump and Kim over nuclear talks

SINGAPore: South Korean President Moon Jaein urged US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jongun to try harder to achieve a breakthrough in their nuclear negotiations.

Moon said at a forum in Singapore that Trump and Kim would “face the stern judgment of the international community” if their promises on denuclearisation weren’t kept.

Singapore was the host of a historic summit between Trump and Kim last month when they agreed to work toward the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, without describing when and how it would occur.

Followup talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean senior officials have got off to a rocky start with Pyongyang accusing Washington of making “unilateral and gangsterlike” demands.

Pyongyang for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearisation” that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its 28,500 troops from South Korea and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.

Despite Kim’s diplomatic onslaught in recent months, there are lingering doubts on whether he would ever agree to fully relinquish his nukes, which he may see as a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurance the United States could offer.

Moon, who has met with Kim twice this year and lobbied hard for the summit between Trump and Kim, said he remains optimistic that Washington and Pyongyang would be able to strike a deal.