Pence raises prospect of talks with N. Korea

Head held high, Kim’s sister returns to N. Korea

SEOUL/WASHINGTON, Feb 12, (Agencies): Comments by US Vice-President Mike Pence suggest the United States may be looking more favourably at diplomatic engagement with North Korea as South Korea considers a rare summit with its neighbour and long-time foe.

Pence said in a newspaper interview the United States and South Korea had agreed on terms for further diplomatic engagement with North Korea, first with Seoul and then possibly leading to direct talks with Washington.

The prospect of talks comes after months of tension between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, with US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un trading insults and threats of destruction amid tightening sanctions from the United Nations.

Speaking to the Washington Post aboard Air Force Two on his way home from the Games, Pence said Washington would keep up its “maximum pressure campaign” against Pyongyang but would be open to possible talks at the same time.

“The point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearisation,” Pence was quoted on Sunday as saying. “So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we’ll talk.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday it was too early to judge whether latest developments represented the start of a diplomatic process.

“We’ve said for some time it’s really up to the North Koreans to decide when they’re ready to engage with us in a sincere way, a meaningful way,” Tillerson told reporters in Egypt.

“They know what has to be on the table for conversations.”

Trump has at times questioned the purpose of further talks with the North after years of negotiations by previous US administrations failed to halt the North’s weapons programmes.

Japan on Monday warned against being “blinded” by North Korea’s diplomatic charm offensive at the Winter Olympics, saying the main goal remains ridding Pyongyang of nuclear weapons.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono used a visit to Singapore, the current chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, to call for unity in dealing with Pyongyang, a spokesman said.

“We need to maximise pressure on North Korea, to corner North Korea to change its policy by fully implementing the UN Security Council Resolution,” said Toshihide Ando, deputy press secretary at Japan’s foreign affairs ministry.

“We will continue to work with the United States and South Korea on this issue. But it’s important that we should not be blinded by the charm offensive by North Korea,” he told reporters at a briefing on Kono’s visit.

He said Kono met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan separately and discussed regional issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, a prim, young woman with a high forehead and hair half swept back quietly gazes at the throngs of people pushing for a glimpse of her, a faint smile on her lips and eyelids low as four bodyguards jostle around her.

In her first appearance on the global stage, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had her every move closely scrutinised.

Crowds applauded as she stood for the South Korean anthem during the opening ceremony for the start of the Winter Olympic Games, while her big smiles and relaxed manner left a largely positive impression on the South Korean public.

But her sometimes aloof expression and hightilted chin also spoke of someone who sees herself “of royalty” and “above anyone else”, leadership experts and some critics said.

Kim Yo Jong’s visit to South Korea, the first by a member of the North’s ruling bloodline since their 1950-53 war, could hardly have come at a more acute time.

Pence was also in town, leading international pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme and reminding the world of the Kim family’s brutal regime.

When shaking hands or eating meals with officials such as South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Yo Jong was all smiles, even agreeing to give a toast suddenly requested of her by the presidential Blue House’s chief of staff.

“I can’t speak very well in public,” she told guests attending a dinner at the five-star Banyan Tree Club and Spa in Seoul.

“I never thought I would visit (the South) so suddenly and believed much would be strange and different but I saw many things that were similar or the same. I hope the day we become one comes soon and hope to see all your friendly faces in Pyongyang.”

With so little known about her (even her age of 28 is unconfirmed), scrutiny on Kim Yo Jong was intense, dominating local media and internet chatrooms.

“Personally I think she looked very relaxed during her visit to South Korea,” said Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector who works at the Seoul-based Daily NK website. “Her facial expressions were cool and she didn’t seem flustered.”

Reportedly schooled in Switzerland, the youngest daughter of former leader Kim Jong Il was promoted by her brother to the country’s top decision-making body in October.

Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership, said Kim Yo Jong left a largely positive impression on the South Korean public.

“North Korea used ‘soft power’ this time to engage the South and her being a woman may have contributed more in that aspect,” Kim told Reuters.