Nth Korea offers to freeze nuke tests
SOUTH KOREA: North Korea has offered to freeze its illicit nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes to engage in talks with the United States, South Korean officials said yesterday, a move that could signal a thaw in the nuclear impasse and a victory for President Donald Trump’s unconventional diplomacy.
The surprise announcement came after South Korea’s spy chief and its top national security official returned yesterday to Seoul from a meeting in Pyongyang with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
South Korea said that Kim had offered to cease any new nuclear tests and missile launches as talks progress. North Korea has yet to officially confirm the South Korean account, but the apparent overture - if true - could help ease sharply rising tensions in northeast Asia. Pyongyang’s apparent agreement in principle to the idea of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula would match a longtime US goal, but it came with significant caveats that could make a deal impossible to achieve.
‘‘The North Korean side clearly stated its willingness to denuclearise,’’ South Korea’s government said. ‘‘It made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military threat to the North was eliminated and its security guaranteed.’’
That broad wording could mean Pyongyang will insist the US cease its annual military exercises with the South - or potentially leave the peninsula entirely, as North Korea has long sought. The US has more than 20,000 troops deployed in South Korea.
Trump praised the prospect of the first direct US talks with Pyongyang in years. ‘‘I think we’re having very good dialogue,’’ he said. ‘‘We have made good progress.’’
Trump traded insults for much of last year with North Korea’s leader, mocking him as ‘‘Little Rocket Man’’ and threatening to unleash ‘‘fire and fury’’ upon the country. He was more circumspect yesterday, saying Kim’s government seems ‘‘to be acting positively but we’re going to see.’’
Vice-President Mike Pence said the US and its allies ‘‘remain committed to applying maximum pressure on the Kim regime to end their nuclear programme. All options are on the table and our posture toward the regime will not change until we see credible, verifiable and concrete steps toward denuclearisation.’’
Kim’s apparent offer stunned many regional security experts and analysts in Washington. The North has tested four nuclear devices and dozens of ballistic missiles since 2013, raising fears it could soon attain the ability to launch a nuclear attack against the United States.
‘‘It’s very encouraging. If North Korea has really committed to denuclearising, that is a positive step forward,’’ said Chun Yungwoo, a onetime national security adviser to former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took a hard line with the totalitarian North. ‘‘I must see if our understanding of North Korea’s commitment is the same as what North Korea really means. There are some conditions that must be clarified.’’
‘‘No-one I know had expected this,’’ said Kim Byoung-joo, an affiliate professor of foreign studies at Hankuk University. ‘‘It will be very difficult for the US to offer any negative response to this.’’
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said his country ‘‘stands ready to play a positive role’’ to ensure the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
The surprising announcement in Seoul followed a failed diplomatic outreach effort between Washington and Pyongyang a month ago. -