China Daily Global Edition (USA)
DPRK says it needs trust in US for denuclearization
Pyongyang: Washington needs to show goodwill, and sanctions only lower it
UNITED NATIONS — The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has demanded that the United States take steps to secure Pyongyang’s trust before its denuclearization.
“Without any trust in the US, there will be no confidence in our national security, and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first,” DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told the UN General Assembly.
“The DPRK government’s commitment to denuclearization is solid and firm. However, it is only possible if the US secures our sufficient trust toward the US.”
The key to consolidating peace and security on the Korean Peninsula is to thoroughly implement the joint statement adopted at the historic summit between the DPRK’s top leader Kim Jongun and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June, Ri said.
The joint statement contains all principled issues regarding eventual solutions of the issues on the Korean Peninsula, he said. “Once the DPRK-US Joint Statement is implemented, the current trend toward detente will turn into durable peace, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will also be achieved.”
The primary task for effectively implementing the joint statement should be bringing down the barrier of mistrust between the two countries, Ri said.
Out of the desire and resolute determination to successfully implement the joint statement, the DPRK government gives particular attention to trust-building and is pouring primary efforts to this, he said.
Even before the summit, he said, the DPRK took significant goodwill measures, such as stopping nuclear and ballistic missile tests and dismantling a nuclear test site.
‘Tough talk, love’
“However, we do not see any corresponding response from the US. On the contrary, instead of addressing our concern for the absence of peace in the Korean Peninsula, the US insists on ‘denuclearization-first’ and increases the level of pressure by sanctions to achieve their purpose in a coercive manner, and even objecting to the ‘declaration of the end of war’,” he said.
“The perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe dream of the people who are ignorant about us. But the problem is that the continued sanctions are deepening our mistrust.”
Meanwhile, Trump told a cheering crowd at a campaign rally on Saturday night that there was once tough talk “back and forth” between him and Kim “and then we fell in love”.
Trump said at a rally in West Virginia: “He wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”
He joked about criticism he would get from the news media for making a comment some would consider “unpresidential” and for being so positive about the DPRK’s top leader.
“Why has President Trump given up so much?” Trump said in his mock “news anchor” voice. “I didn’t give up anything.”
He noted that Kim is interested in a second meeting after their initial meeting in Singapore was hailed by Trump as a big step toward denuclearization