Kim ready to revive nuclear talks
North Korean leader Kim Jongun signalled a willingness to revive stalled nuclear talks, with South Korean officials saying he wanted to “achieve denuclearisation” during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
Kim told visiting South Korean envoys on Wednesday he was ready to accept “stronger measures” to restrict his nuclear programme and wanted a declaration with the US to formally end the Korean War, the officials said. A separate account by North Korean state media said Kim told the delegation that he wanted progress on denuclearisation, without mentioning the US or Trump.
“He wanted to end some 70 years of animosity between North Korea and the US and achieve denuclearisation within President Trump’s first term,” South Korean National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, who led the one-day trip to Pyongyang, told reporters on Thursday in Seoul. South Korean President Moon Jae-in also agreed to meet Kim in the North Korean capital on September 1820, the first such trip in 11 years.
Kim’s remarks about Trump’s term, if conveyed accurately, would represent his first commitment to something resembling a timetable for nuclear talks with Trump.
But interpreting them needed several caveats: Kim only said that he wanted to realise denuclearisation before early 2021 — not commit to doing it — and he did not provide a clearer definition for the term, something that has emerged as a sticking point with the US.
“Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!” Trump tweeted on Thursday. Kim made clear his “unwavering trust” in Trump, Chung said. “Kim especially emphasised that he has never said anything bad about Trump to anyone, including his close aides.”
Kim’s statement was “meaningful” but unlikely to achieve a breakthrough if he does not offer something more substantive in exchange for a peace declaration, according to Kim Byungyeon, a professor of North Korean economics at Seoul National University. “The US seems likely to move if North Korea gives something more concrete.”
The South Koreans’ trip to Pyongyang came amid mounting disagreements over the speed and sequence of efforts to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and finally end the 19501953 Korean War. While Trump and Kim Jong-un pledged during their historic summit in June to “work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” they did not define what that meant or offer a timetable for carrying it out.
The phrase “complete denuclearisation” — long preferred by North Korea — could be read to preclude nuclear-capable US bombers and submarines from operating near South Korea. Signing a peace treaty without a disarmament deal also carries risks for the US, because it could legitimise Kim’s control over half of the peninsula and undermine the rationale for stationing 28,000 or so US troops on it.
Moon’s spokesperson Kim Eui-keum said Trump had asked Moon during a phone conversation before the trip to serve as “chief negotiator” between the US and North Korea. Trump gave Moon’s envoys a message to deliver to Kim, who gave the officials a statement to send to the White House.
Chung said Kim Jong-un stressed the need for a peace declaration, and said that such a step would not require the withdrawal of US troops. He was expected to brief his US counterpart, National Security Adviser John Bolton, at 8pm Seoul time, Moon’s office said.
Trump cancelled a North Korea trip by secretary of state Michael Pompeo in August, a day after it was announced, citing a lack of progress. Chung said there was no discussion with Kim Jong-un about rescheduling that trip. In addition to setting a date for their meeting in Pyongyang, Moon and Kim also agreed to open a joint liaison office at the Gaeseong industrial complex north of the border before the summit, Chung said.
The two leaders will discuss measures on denuclearisation, establishing peace and detailed steps to ease military tensions, Chung said.
Earlier on Thursday, North Korean media said Kim Jong-un had called for further efforts to “realise the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” during meetings with the envoys.
The report said it was the leader’s “will to completely remove the danger of armed conflict and horror of war from the Korean peninsula and turn it into the cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from nuclear threat”.
“The North and the South should further their efforts to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” it said.
The South Koreans said Kim Jong-un expressed frustration about scepticism over “the meaningful steps” he had taken to restrict his weapons programme. The North Korean leader cited his dismantlement of a key nuclear test site and his suspension of missile tests.