N. Korea vows no nuke tests during U.S. talks
TOKYO — North Korea has vowed not to test missiles or nuclear weapons during proposed talks with the United States and South Korea, officials from South Korea said Tuesday after returning from surprisingly productive meetings in Pyongyang.
North Korea said it was prepared to hold “candid talks” with the United States about denuclearization and normalizing relations and “made it clear” that it would not resume provocations while engaged in dialogue, the officials said upon returning to Seoul.
North Korea did not confirm South Korea’s version of events, saying simply that the two sides “made a satisfactory agreement” during the meeting between the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and envoys sent by the South’s president, Moon Jae-in.
There is plenty of cause for skepticism. North Korea has previously said it will give up its nuclear weapons only if the United States withdraws its military from South Korea, and North Korea has previously reneged on every deal it has ever signed.
But the sudden thaw could also pave the way for talks between Kim’s regime and the Trump administration and bring about a reprieve in the months of acute tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday there was “possible progress being made in talks with North Korea.”
“For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned,” he tweeted. “May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!” he said, apparently suggesting he was open to both diplomacy and military action for dealing with North Korea.
These developments, however, come at a time when the United States has no ambassador in South Korea and no special representative on North Korea, and when the nominee for assistant secretary of state for East Asia has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
During its visit to Pyongyang, a delegation led by Chung Eui-yong, the South Korean national security adviser, had a four-hour dinner with Kim and his wife, as well as other senior officials including Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who went to South Korea for the opening of the Winter Olympics last month.
“The dinner proceeded in a warm atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feelings,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a report, one of several that mentioned the Koreans’ shared blood and implied that they were united together against the outside world.
Chung, who will travel to Washington later this week to brief Trump administration officials, returned to Seoul with an agreement that surprised analysts with its scope.
Vice President Mike Pence — who attended the Olympics opening ceremony — said the United States and allies seek to keep “maximum pressure” on the North if talks emerge or not.
“All options are on the table and our posture toward the regime will not change until we see credible, verifiable, and concrete steps toward denuclearization,” said a statement from Pence.
In Korea during the Olympics, Pence met with the South’s president, Moon. But a planned encounter with Kim’s sister was scrapped by North Korea.