I don’t get what the supposed smart people in the diplomatic community are getting excited about after these comments from a North Korean official. Basically the official said that if the US backs off and gives the Kim regime everything they want then there may be an exit from the current nuclear crisis. Does anyone think President Trump is willing to settle this current crisis by signing some agreement that leaves Pyongyang with nuclear tipped ICBMs pointed at the United States?:
The head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American bureau, Choe Son-hui, speaks at the 2017 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference on Oct. 20. “[North Korea] will not be returning to the Six Party Talks until issues with the US have been resolved,” she said. (ITAR-TASS/Yonhap News)Choe Son-hui, the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American affairs bureau chief, recently said there “may be an exit” from the North Korean nuclear crisis if the US “makes the right choice to abandon its hostile policies and co-exist with North Korea as a nuclear state,” it was reported on Oct. 24.
The message is being interpreted as suggesting Pyongyang is leaving the possibility of dialogue open. Choe’s remarks were made during a closed-door session on “Detente on the Korean Peninsula” at the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference on Oct. 21, a South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official reported.
When asked what was specifically meant by the US “abandoning its hostile policies,” Choe reportedly replied, “For a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to happen, the right atmosphere must be formed, but North Korea cannot sit down at the negotiating table when there are threatening tweets from President [Donald] Trump every day.”“North Korea will not move an inch if the US’s policies of pressure with military and nuclear threats and economic sanctions continue,” she was also quoted as saying.“We will not be bound by the Sept. 19 Joint Statement [of 2005] stipulating denuclearization, nor will we return to the Six-Party [Talks] framework.”
Choe’s remarks differ little from Pyongyang’s other recent statements of principle on the international stage. But her use of the terms “exit” and “right atmosphere” are drawing notice, as they could be seen as a signal that Pyongyang may pursue negotiations.“Choe’s remarks could be taken a signal that [North Korea] is starting to negotiate,” said University of North Korean Studies (UNKS) professor Koo Kap-woo. [Hankyoreh]
Apparently, the norks think the rest of the world are idiots. Given who they dealt with between 1990 and 2016, I don’t blame them.
Smokes at Work
7 years ago
Funny that someone from the DPRK speaks at a nonproliferation conference; the participation qualifications must be as stringent as some of the groups at the UN. 🙄
Flyingsword
7 years ago
It has worked for nK so many times before, why not try one more time?
Apparently, the norks think the rest of the world are idiots. Given who they dealt with between 1990 and 2016, I don’t blame them.
Funny that someone from the DPRK speaks at a nonproliferation conference; the participation qualifications must be as stringent as some of the groups at the UN. 🙄
It has worked for nK so many times before, why not try one more time?