N. Korea puts pressure on U.S. ahead of Pompeo visit
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Ramping up pressure on the United States, North Korea on Tuesday accused the Trump administration of demanding too much but offering too few concessions in its negotiations over the terms of denuclearizing the North.
Up to now, North Korea has demanded almost daily that the U.S. join North and South Korea in declaring an end to the Korean War as an initial confidence-building concession from Washington before taking steps to denuclearize. The war was halted with a truce in 1953 but a peace treaty was never signed.
The U.S. insists that before it grants any concessions to North Korea, the North must do more to keep its end of the deal Kim Jong Un reached in his talks with President Donald Trump in Singapore in June — when the North Korean leader promised to “work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
U.S. officials and analysts have called on the North to submit a full inventory of its nuclear program for verification and to start dismantling its nuclear and missile facilities.
But on Tuesday, North Korea called such demands “rubbish.”
The end-of-war declaration “can never be a bargaining chip for getting the DPRK denuclearized,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said, using the acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “If the U.S. doesn’t want the end of war, the DPRK will also not particularly hope for it.”
The commentary indicates the North will drive a hard bargain when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo makes his fourth visit to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, this month. Pompeo has accepted an invitation to visit the North to narrow differences over the terms of denuclearizing and arrange a new summit meeting between Kim and Trump.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly last week, the North’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said his country’s willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula so it could focus on economic development should not be questioned. But Ri reiterated that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons “unilaterally” before Washington proves its trustworthiness by taking “corresponding” steps. He cited Washington’s campaign ...to escalate sanctions as evidence of continuing U.S. hostility.
On Tuesday, North Korea cited goodwill gestures it said it has taken to demonstrate a willingness to move toward denuclearization. Since April, it has declared a moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests and demolished its only-known nuclear test site.
When he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang last month, Kim also offered to demolish key missile development facilities, including a missile engine test site, and invite outside experts to watch.
Kim also offered to take further steps, including the “permanent dismantlement” of his country’s main nuclear complex, in Yongbyon, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, if Washington took corresponding steps.
But such gestures have fallen short of U.S. demands. North Korea has not offered a detailed commitment to dismantling its nuclear arsenal. Nor has it submitted its nuclear inventory, including the number and size of its nuclear weapons and amount of bomb fuel, so they can be verified by international inspectors.
But North Korea said Tuesday that the U.S. has not done enough. Other than suspending joint military exercises with South Korea this year, Washington has done little to encourage bolder steps toward denuclearization, the North said.
It said Washington should have made the end-of-war declaration a long time ago, instead of trying to use it as a bargaining chip.