Korean media: No mention of denuclearization... US: "Dialogue with Kim Jong-un without preconditions"

¬ The possibility of a meeting without discussing nuclear issues is not ruled out

On the 30th, the White House stated that US President Donald Trump is willing to hold dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un without any preconditions. This marks a subtle shift compared to a week ago, when it emphasized "complete denuclearization" of North Korea and rejected Kim Jong-un's proposal of "dialogue conditional on abandoning denuclearization".

On the same day, when asked about the possibility of US-North Korea dialogue, a White House official said: "President Trump, during his first term, achieved stability on the Korean Peninsula through three historic summits with Kim Jong-un. President Trump remains open to dialogue with Kim Jong-un without any preconditions. The US policy toward North Korea has not changed." Although reiterating the existing policy framework targeting the complete denuclearization of North Korea, the word "denuclearization" was not used.

There is a difference in the White House's position compared to a week ago. After Kim Jong-un stated at the Supreme People's Assembly meeting on the 21st that "if the United States abandons its absurd obsession with denuclearization, I have no reason not to meet the United States face-to-face," the White House commented the next day: "President Trump is willing to dialogue with Kim Jong-un to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea." It clearly defined the premise and goal of the dialogue as "denuclearization of North Korea." On the same day, a senior U.S. State Department official also told the media: "The U.S. policy remains the complete denuclearization of North Korea."

At the UN General Assembly, during the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting held in New York on the 22nd, the three countries reaffirmed their will for "complete denuclearization" of North Korea. On the 26th, after talks between South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Hill, it was stated that "the two countries confirmed their will for the complete denuclearization of North Korea." At that time, the U.S. actually took a cautious and negative stance towards Kim Jong-un's "conditional dialogue" with the U.S. In addition, on the 29th, Kim Sun-kyong, vice minister of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, made a strong speech at the UN General Assembly, stating: "We will never give up our nuclear weapons under any circumstances." This made U.S.-North Korea dialogue seem even more distant.

However, just a week later, the White House's tone became more flexible. Although this does not mean accepting North Korea's condition of "abandoning denuclearization" for dialogue, publicly mentioning the phrase "dialogue without preconditions" actually amounted to a reverse proposal. Some evaluations suggest that Trump has opened the door to the possibility of directly meeting Kim Jong-un even if no agreement on denuclearization is reached. In response, the South Korean presidential office stated on the 1st: "South Korea and the U.S. have consistently expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea to resolve the peace and nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula. Denuclearization is the consistent goal of the international community, including South Korea and the U.S."

Therefore, with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to be held in Gyeongju, South Korea, at the end of October, the possibility of a sudden meeting between the U.S. and North Korea at Panmunjom or elsewhere has been mentioned again. Although the South Korean government still maintains a cautious attitude, stating that the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea summit is low, some analysts point out that given Trump's unpredictable nature and tendency to make sudden decisions, all possibilities should be kept open.

Recently, North Korea has also avoided making direct provocative statements against the U.S. Kim Jong-un said: "I personally have good memories of the current U.S. president, Trump." Additionally, after the joint press conference between North Korea and China on the 28th, China used expressions in the news release such as "jointly resisting 'military coercion'" and "opposing unilateralism and power politics" targeting the U.S., but these expressions were not present in North Korean reports. Therefore, some analyses suggest that North Korea is considering the possibility of dialogue with the U.S., and thus filtered out expressions that might provoke friction with the U.S.

Trump and Kim Jong-un held two summits in Singapore in June 2018 and Hanoi in February 2019, and had an unexpected meeting at Panmunjom in June 2019. At that time, Trump's sudden suggestion of dialogue with North Korea via social media shocked the international community.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844923100036096/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.