Trump cautious on North Korea
Doubts persist about North Korea’s intentions on denuclearisation
Crisis is far from conclusion, US president says after Kim’s pledge to end nuclear tests |
US President Donald Trump yesterday said the North Korean nuclear crisis is far from conclusion, striking a cautious note a day after the North’s pledge to end its nuclear tests raised hopes before planned summits with South Korea and the United States.
North Korea said on Saturday it was suspending nuclear and missile tests and scrapping its nuclear test site, and instead pursuing economic growth and peace ahead of planned summits with South Korea and the United States.
“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t — only time will tell … But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!” Trump said on Twitter.
World leaders welcomed the announcement about the end to nuclear tests including Trump, who in an earlier tweet yesterday called North Korea’s statement a pledge to denuclearise: “Wow, we haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearisation (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”
Questions galore
However, Kim’s announcement did not include a commitment to scrap existing nuclear weapons and missiles, and there are doubts he would ever give up the nuclear arsenal his country has been developing for decades.
Some have expressed doubts about the North’s intentions and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be under intense international scrutiny when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday.
“North Korea has a long history of raising the issue of denuclearisation and has committed to freeze its nuclear weapons programmes in the past. We all remember how those pledges and commitments went down over past decades,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor of North Korean Studies at Korea University in Seoul.
Extra-sensitive
“Although the North’s announcement is quite dramatic, it’s natural for the world to be extra-sensitive to every word spoken by Kim.” Kim said North Korea no longer needed to test nuclear bombs or intercontinental ballistic missiles now that his country had the weapons, and he would gear all efforts toward economic development.
Moon, who welcomed Kim’s announcement as a “major” step toward denuclearisation, is making the summit his sole focus this week, staying in the presidential Blue House to prepare with no outside engagements, a Blue House official said yesterday.
South Korea’s presidential security service met officials from the military as well as the UN Command on Saturday to discuss security at the border truce village of Panmunjom, where the inter-Korean summit will take place, the official said.
On Monday, the two Koreas will hold another round of working-level talks on the North Korean side to discuss protocol, security and media coverage of the summit.