Denuclearisation talks on right track – S Korea

SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday that North Korea’s criticism of the US after recent talks on denuclearisation was part of its strategy and negotiations between them were on the “right track”.

North Korea accused the US last Saturday of making “gangster-like” demands in the talks in North Korea late last week, contradicting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said the old enemies had made progress.

Moon said talks on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula between North Korea and the US may face hurdles and take time, his office said.

“No one can be optimistic about the results, but my cautious outlook is that the negotiations would be able to succeed if the North carries out a complete denuclearisation, and the international community gathers efforts to provide security guarantees to the North,” Moon said.

The North’s criticism was a “strategy” meant to show its frustration about what it sees as a lack of action from the United States in response to the steps it had recently taken, Moon said.

The North has invited foreign journalists, but not experts as promised, to the dismantling of a nuclear site, and pledged to close a missile engine testing facility.

The US and South Korea have halted annual joint military exercises that North Korea has for years objected to.

Pompeo said the two had agreed to hold discussions yesterday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom on the repatriation of remains of Americans killed in the 1950-53 Korean War. But no one showed up from the North, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.

The return of US remains was one of the key agreements to come from US President Donald Trump’s June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment yesterday except to note that Pompeo had said after his talks in Pyongyang that the date for the meeting to discuss the repatriation of remains was flexible.

Pompeo said just before leaving Pyongyang last Saturday that the meeting was set for yesterday, but “could move by one day or two”.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that North Korea had called for general-level military negotiations to discuss the return of US remains.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, Yonhap reported that the North Koreans wanted to speak with an American general, possibly as early as Sunday – Reuters