US and DPRK meet in Sweden to start denuclearization talks
Senior officials from Washington and Pyongyang started working-level talks in Sweden on Sunday to pave the way for a second summit between the two countries’ leaders in an effort to break the current deadlock over denuclearization talks.
Stephen Biegun, the United States special representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, arrived in Stockholm on Saturday afternoon for four days of meetings with DPRK Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.
According to the Republic of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, also arrived in Sweden on Friday for possible three-way negotiations with Biegun and Choe as a potential mediator in denuclearization talks.
The meeting came as Kim Yongchol, vice-chairman of the DPRK’s Korean Workers’ Party, wrapped up his three-day visit to Washington on Sunday after meeting with US President Donald Trump and agreeing to hold a second summit next month between Trump and the DPRK top leader, Kim Jong-un.
“President Donald Trump met with Kim Yong-chol for an hour and half, to discuss denuclearization and a second summit, which will take place near the end of February,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
“The president looks forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at a place to be announced at a later date,” she added.
Although the location for the second summit has not been announced, many media speculated that Vietnam’s capital Hanoi is going to be the top candidate site as both the US and the DPRK have embassies there.
Trump and Kim held their historic first summit in Singapore in June last year and agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for Pyongyang.
The denuclearization talks have been at an impasse, however, with Pyongyang calling for sanctions relief and corresponding measures by Washington for the denuclearization steps that it has taken so far. But Washington has insisted that sanctions and pressure will be maintained until Pyongyang implements sincere denuclearization measures, including declaring a list of its nuclear weapons.
Experts said that the US and the DPRK may seek to focus on making pragmatic concessions to break the current deadlock.
“Although finishing denuclearization remains an ongoing task, the second Trump-Kim summit will bring the greatest benefits not only to East Asia, but also the whole world,” said Li Nan, an associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
According to Li, at this summit, it is possible that Trump and Kim will reach a deal concerning denuclearization, and may even discuss specific steps toward getting rid of weapons.
“Personally, I think the US and DPRK will reaffirm their position on denuclearization and talk about setting up a peace mechanism during their meeting in February,” Li said.
Li expected that the summit’s other main purpose is to discuss peacebuilding mechanisms on the Korean Peninsula, as he noted Kim promised to “make the Korean Peninsula a durable and lasting peace zone” during his traditional New Year address on Jan 1.