South Korean diplomat: Kim has 'given his word' on nukes
WASHINGTON/SEOUL (AP/Reuters) – South Korea's foreign minister says North Korea's leader has "given his word'' he's committed to denuclearization, a prime condition for a potential summit with President Donald Trump in May.
Trump has agreed to what would be historic talks after South Korean officials relayed that Kim Jong Un was committed to ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons and was willing to halt nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea hasn't publicly confirmed the summit plans, and a meeting place isn't known.
South Korea's Kang Kyung-wha says Seoul has asked the North "to indicate in clear terms the commitment to denuclearization'' and she says Kim's "conveyed that commitment.''
She tells CBS' "Face the Nation'' that "he's given his word'' and it's "the first time that the words came directly'' from the North's leader.
North Korean summits The top national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan met at the weekend to discuss North Korea and the “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Monday.
The two days of meetings could also help prepare the way for a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
They were the latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity spanning Asia, the United States and Europe ahead of North Korea’s planned summits with the South and the United States.
South Korea’s National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong met US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Japan’s National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi to discuss summit meetings between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the Blue House in Seoul said.
They also discussed the possible meeting between Trump and Kim, it said.
The security advisers from the three countries discussed the “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”, agreed that “it was important to not repeat the mistakes of the past” and to work together closely, the Blue House said.
A senior North Korean diplomat left for Finland on Sunday for talks with former US and South Korean officials, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.
That followed three days of talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers on security on the Korean peninsula.
Sweden “engaged heavily” on the issue of US detainees during the talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers, CNN reported on Sunday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
North Korea is pursuing its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland.