{"id":60176,"date":"2018-03-07T04:51:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T04:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=60176"},"modified":"2018-03-07T04:51:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T04:51:42","slug":"raising-hopes-north-korea-offers-to-talk-about-its-nuclear-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/raising-hopes-north-korea-offers-to-talk-about-its-nuclear-arsenal.html","title":{"rendered":"Raising Hopes, North Korea Offers to Talk About Its Nuclear Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raising Hopes, North Korea Offers to Talk About Its Nuclear Arsenal<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

North Korea\u2019s sudden willingness to bargain with the Trump administration over scrapping its atomic arsenal surprised the world on Tuesday, setting in motion an unpredictable diplomatic dance with the United States and South Korea, but raising hopes that one of the most dangerous confrontations of the nuclear age could be defused.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korean envoys who met with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, conveyed his position in a statement after a two-day visit to North Korea. They also said he would suspend all nuclear and missile tests if such talks took place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe North Korean side clearly stated its willingness to denuclearize,\u201d the statement said. \u201cIt made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military threat to the North was eliminated and its security guaranteed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The statement said North Korea had made clear that it wished for \u201ca heartfelt dialogue with the United States on the issues of denuclearization and normalizing relations with the United States,\u201d and that \u201cwhile dialogue is continuing, it will not attempt any strategic provocations, such as nuclear and ballistic missile tests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The two Koreas also agreed to hold a summit meeting between Mr. Kim and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea on the countries\u2019 border in late April and establish a telephone hotline before then, linking the two leaders directly, Mr. Moon\u2019s office said.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea, which has been saying its nuclear weapons are nonnegotiable, did not immediately provide its own version of what Mr. Kim had offered. That initial silence fed cautions that he was raising premature optimism, or perhaps strategizing to buy time.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it seemed unlikely that the South Korean delegation would have publicized such an offer without the North\u2019s assurances, after what by all accounts was an extraordinarily cordial visit. Even President Trump, who has mocked Mr. Kim and vowed \u201cfire and fury\u201d that would obliterate North Korea if its nuclear forces ever attacked, offered a guarded but positive response.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned,\u201d Mr. Trump said on Twitter. \u201cThe World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in Washington, Mr. Trump told reporters: \u201cThe statements coming out of South Korea and North Korea have been very positive. That would be a great thing for the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

White House officials were more cautious, with one senior official noting that the United States has negotiated with North Korea over its nuclear program off-and-on for 27 years, and that the North Koreans have broken every agreement they ever made with the Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States, this official said, has no current plans to further delay joint military exercises with South Korea, suspended for the Winter Olympics last month in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Those exercises are scheduled to resume in April, after the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Trump administration is intrigued by North Korea\u2019s offer \u2014 as relayed through the South Koreans \u2014 the senior official noted that North Korea could still manufacture missiles and bombs during a pause in testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two top advisers to President Moon who met with Mr. Kim will visit the White House later this week to give a more detailed briefing on their talks. But the senior official said the United States had confidence in the preliminary assessment they had provided.<\/span><\/p>\n

That assessment signals the first time Mr. Kim has indicated a willingness to discuss abandoning nuclear arms in return for security guarantees from the United States, which has technically been in a state of war with North Korea for nearly seven decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

The South Korean delegation gave no indication that North Korea would start dismantling nuclear or missile programs anytime soon. Nonetheless, the delegation\u2019s visit represented major progress in Mr. Moon\u2019s efforts to improve relations with North Korea. Those efforts advanced considerably during the Winter Olympics, to which Mr. Kim sent athletes, entertainers and political delegations that included his sister.<\/span><\/p>\n

A senior member of the South Korean delegation that returned on Tuesday, Mr. Moon\u2019s national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, said Mr. Kim had been unexpectedly flexible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Chung told reporters in Seoul, the South Korean capital, that the delegation had anticipated Mr. Kim would insist that the South and the United States not hold their military exercises. The South Koreans were wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKim Jong-un simply said he could understand why the joint exercises must resume in April on the same scale as before,\u201d Mr. Chung said. \u201cBut he said he expected them to be readjusted if the situation on the Korean Peninsula stabilizes in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Chung said the South Koreans believed that their agreements with North Korea would be enough to start a dialogue between Washington and the North. He also said he was carrying additional messages from Mr. Kim to the Trump administration that he could not reveal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no other specific demand from North Korea in returning to dialogue,\u201d he said. \u201cThey only said they wanted to be treated like a serious dialogue partner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Mr. Trump, the overture by North Korea sets in motion a challenging phase that will call on the United States to exercise diplomatic muscles after a long stretch in which the White House relied on economic pressure, backed by threats of military force.<\/span><\/p>\n

That challenge will be compounded because the State Department\u2019s veteran North Korea negotiator, Joseph Yun, recently announced his retirement from the Foreign Service. Another experienced negotiator, Victor Cha, was recently sidelined when the White House decided not to proceed with his nomination as ambassador to South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Administration officials are wary of entanglement in a negotiation in which the United States makes concessions \u2014 on issues like military exercises or shipments of medical and food aid \u2014 only to see the North Koreans renege on their commitments later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has said that the United States could talk with North Korea, but \u201conly under the right conditions.\u201d American officials have repeatedly said they can start negotiations with the North only if it agrees to discuss denuclearizing. They have also insisted that the North first take some actions that would convince them of its sincerity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another complication is the increased tension between the United States and South Korea, both over Mr. Moon\u2019s exuberant diplomatic engagement with the North and over trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Privately, American officials voice frustration that Mr. Moon has responded so readily to the overtures from Mr. Kim. During Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s trip to South Korea for the Olympics, for example, Mr. Moon sought to broker a meeting between Mr. Pence and North Korean officials \u2014 seating him a few feet away from Mr. Kim\u2019s sister, Kim Yo-jong, during the opening ceremony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s announcement of tariffs on steel could be an even greater source of friction. South Korea is the third-largest exporter of steel to the United States, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all exports.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the president has floated the idea of excluding Canada and Mexico from the tariffs, provided they agree to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, he has said nothing about South Korea. Other administration officials said South Korea was among the worst offenders in terms of dumping steel into the American market.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump is already demanding that South Korea overhaul its free trade agreement with the United States. Some in the administration have urged Mr. Trump to delay punitive trade measures while South Korea and the United States jointly deal with the North Korea issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera of Japan, which has steadfastly supported the Trump administration\u2019s tough approach to sanctions against North Korea, struck a note of caution about the North\u2019s interest in negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile talking about nuclear abandonment several times, it turned out that North Korea didn\u2019t halt its nuclear development in the past,\u201d Mr. Onodera said. \u201cWe need to carefully assess if this North and South dialogue will really lead to the abandonment of nuclear and missile development.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

China, which has pushed for direct talks between the North and Washington for many months, welcomed the South Korean statement. Geng Shuang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said China hoped \u201cthe relevant parties can seize the current opportunity\u201d to work toward \u201cpolitically resolving the Korean Peninsula issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One Chinese expert on North Korea characterized its reported offer as \u201cconcessions that are dramatic and significant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be hard for the U.S. government to resist,\u201d said the expert, Cheng Xiaohe, of Renmin University in Beijing.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Evans J. R. Revere, a former State Department official who was involved in previous negotiations with North Korea, was less impressed. He said the formula of denuclearization for security guarantees had \u201cbeen the basis of several sets of talks\u201d between the two countries in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, Mr. Revere said the Trump administration would be hard-pressed to reject the North\u2019s proposal without making it appear that Washington \u2014 not the North \u2014 was the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith these developments, the door seems wide open to a U.S.-North Korea exploratory conversation if both sides want one,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/06\/world\/asia\/korea-weapons-trump-kim.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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