Moon hopeful over DPRK-US nuclear deal

Shanghai Daily — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 02:17:17 +0000

South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed hope yesterday that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States will continue their talks to strike a deal on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon made the remarks during a plenary session of the National Security Council in Seoul, according to the presidential Blue House.

Moon last presided over an NSC meeting about nine months ago on June 14, 2018, two days after the first summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.

Kim and Trump ended their second meeting in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi last week without any agreement.

“We wish the two countries continue to talk. (We) hope the two leaders will meet again as soon as possible to strike the delayed deal,” said Moon.

Moon said it would never be desirable for Pyongyang and Washington to halt dialogue for long, and he believed that the two sides would reach an agreement “in the end.”

He said South Korea could play a significant role in helping the two sides strike a deal, indicating his willingness to broker a compromise between the DPRK and the US.

The president instructed the NSC to make efforts for the rapid resumption of working-level talks between Pyongyang and Washington and find measures to resume the DPRK-US dialogue through the development of inter-Korean relations without violating global sanctions.

Moon said the second DPRK-US summit confirmed “very important fruits” that the two sides bore through dialogue, noting that Kim and Trump discussed the dismantling of the DPRK’s Yongbyon nuclear complex.

He said the verifiable dismantling of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, which he said is a core of the DPRK’s nuclear program, was within a possible range.

If all the plutonium-reprocessing and uranium-enrichment facilities in Yongbyon are completely dismantled, it will mark an irreversible phase for the peninsula’s denuclearization.

Moon said relief from sanctions against Pyongyang was also discussed at the Hanoi summit, which he called great progress as it meant the two sides had entered a phase of trading denuclearization and corresponding measures.

During the Hanoi summit, Kim and Trump discussed the establishment of US liaison office in Pyongyang that has a “great meaning” in the work toward normalized relations between the DPRK and the US, the South Korean leader noted.

Source: https://archive.shine.cn/world/Moon-hopeful-over-DPRKUS-nuclear-deal/shdaily.shtml

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Talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un abruptly came to an end on Thursday following disagreements over lifting of sanctions.

North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the United States despite both countries failing to reach a deal at the Hanoi summit in Vietnam the previous day, AFP reported.

Talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam abruptly ended following a disagreement over sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. The two leaders did not issue a joint statement either.

Despite the stalemate, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported that the two leaders had a “constructive and candid exchange”, according to AFP. The agency said that despite “inevitable hardships and difficulties” in forging a new relationship, the Hanoi summit was “successful” and said Kim had promised Trump another meeting.

Trump, during a press meet, said he would “rather do it right than do it fast”. “Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times,” the US president had said.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday reiterated he will work with the United States and North Korea to ensure both countries reach an agreement on denuclearisation, Reuters reported.

“My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with the United States and North Korea so as to help their talks reach a complete settlement by any means,” Moon said in a speech in Seoul.

At their first summit on June 12 in Singapore, Kim had committed to the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon said South Korea would consult the US on ways to resume joint projects with North Korea, which includes tourism development at Mount Kumgang and the Kaesong industrial complex, both in the North. Moon, who has been an active supporter of efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, met Kim three times last year.

‘Sought only partial lifting of sanctions’

Earlier in the day, North Korea claimed it had sought only a partial lifting of sanctions “related to people’s livelihoods and unrelated to military sanctions”. At a midnight press briefing on Friday, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said North Korea had offered a realistic proposal, which involved dismantling all of its main nuclear site at Yongbyon, including plutonium and uranium facilities.

Ri’s statement contradicted Trump’s remarks, who claimed talks had broke down after North Korea demanded that sanctions be fully lifted. “It was about the sanctions basically,” Trump had said in Hanoi. “They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn’t do that.”

Based on the current level of trust between the US and North Korea, “this is the biggest denuclearisation step we can take”, Ri said. The minister said North Korea had only asked for the removal of five of the 11 sets of sanctions, CNN reported.

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Moon hopeful over DPRK-US nuclear deal

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