US eyes compromise with North Korea

Envoy says willing to discuss ‘many actions’ to improve ties

Washington is willing to discuss “many actions” to improve ties and entice Pyongyang to give up nuclear weapons, the US special envoy for North Korea said on Thursday, but set out an extensive list of demands for the North, including a full disclosure of its weapons program.

In a speech at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, envoy Stephen Biegun did not elaborate on what concessions the US might make, but said the “corresponding measures” demanded by North Korea would be the subject of talks next week.

Biegun will arrive in Seoul on Sunday for meetings with South Korean officials, before holding talks with North Ko- rean negotiators.

“From our side, we are prepared to discuss many actions that could help build trust between our two countries and advance further progress in parallel on the Singapore summit objectives of transforming relations, establishing a permanent peace regime on the peninsula, and complete denuclearization,” he said.

Biegun’s comment referred to the unprecedented meeting last June between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in the wealthy Asian citystate.

Trump hailed “tremendous progress” in his dealings with North Korea and told reporters in the Oval Office on Thurs- day that the date and location of a second summit with Kim would be announced “early next week” and probably during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

North Korea has complained that the US has done little to reciprocate for its actions so far to dismantle some weapons facilities and freeze its weapons testing. It has repeatedly urged a lifting of punishing US-led sanctions and also a formal end to the war, as well as security guarantees.

In his most detailed public remarks on his approach to North Korea after five months in his role, Biegun said the US had told the North it was prepared to pursue commitments made in Singapore “si-

multaneously and in parallel” and had already eased rules on delivery of humanitarian aid to it.

Still, he outlined a long list of demands North Korea would eventually need to meet, such as allowing expert access and monitoring mechanisms of nuclear and missile sites.

It would have to “ultimately ensure removal or destruction of stockpiles of fissile material, weapons, missiles, launchers and other weapons of mass destruction,” he added.

Pyongyang has rejected making an itemized declaration of its weapons programs for decades.

Biegun said Kim committed, during an October visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to the dismantling and destruction of plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities.

The information from Biegun goes further than remarks by Pompeo himself after his trip and beyond any public statement by Pyongyang.

While Biegun conceded there was “more work ahead of us than behind us,” Trump appeared upbeat about the prospects for a second summit with Kim.

“They very much want the meeting,” Trump said in his Oval Office remarks. “And I think they really want to do something, and we’ll see.”