North Korea silence speaks volumes on US talks announced by Trump

SEOUL: Pyongyang has maintained a deafening silence as news that US President Donald Trump will meet its leader Kim Jong Un made global headlines — and analysts say the nucleararmed North is keeping its powder dry, retaining room to manoeuvre.

Trump last week agreed to meet with Kim by the end of May to discuss Pyongyang’s denuclearisation — which it put on the table in exchange for security guarantees — and predicted the talks would be a ‘tremendous success’.

But the unorthodox announcement was made on the White House lawn by a South Korean envoy, with no American officials in attendance, and only confirmed by Washington afterwards.

More than 72 hours later, there has been no comment by the North, and nothing on the subject in its official media.

“It was a unilateral statement by Trump,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University. ‘Kim Jong Un just sent him a verbal message’ through Seoul’s intermediaries.

“To North Korea, it’s not an official agreement,” he told AFP.

“Nothing’s for sure yet. For them, an official announcement has to be based on a governmentlevel agreement that includes the agenda and location.”

The same applied to the North’s summit with the South that Seoul announced for April, he added.

In addition, Pyongyang would not want to give the South credit for brokering the talks with Washington, he said, and would hold off on any announcement until its own direct contacts with the US.

In stark contrast, the US president has been itching to share his prospective meeting.

Trump has given himself a pat on the back for bringing the isolated regime to the negotiating table, showing confidence that the North was ‘looking to de-nuke’ and that its leaders were ready to ‘make peace’. But analysts warn that Pyongyang’s silence gives it ‘maximum optionality’ on its next move.

“It’s not tying its own hands or making any commitments. We should be wary about believing anything we’re told in private — whether by North or South Korea,” said Van Jackson, a defence expert at the Victoria University of Wellington. — AFP