North Korea says high-level talks with a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were “regrettable” and has accused Washington of trying to unilaterally pressure the country into abandoning its nukes.
The statement by an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday came hours after Pompeo concluded two days of talks with North Korean officials led by Kim Yong Chol.
The statement says that the United States betrayed the spirit of last month’s summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by making unilateral demands on “CVID,” or the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.
It says the outcome of the follow-up talks was “very concerning” because it has led to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearization that had been firm.” [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but my best guess on what is going on is that North Korea wants some of the sanctions dropped for the little to nothing they have done to denuclearize. This is their standard playbook from past negotiations.
The other thing that is in their playbook is using the remains of US servicemembers killed during the Korean War as bargaining chips. When the return of 200 war remains was announced I was wondering what the cost would be? Now we know they were just bargaining chips by the Kim regime to get sanctions dropped.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has wrapped up two days of talks with senior North Korean officials without meeting Kim Jong Un but with commitments for new discussions on denuclearization and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War.
The Kim regime is only committing to further discussions on the return of the remains which proves they are simply bargaining chips to get what the Kim regime wants which is some of the sanctions dropped. South Korean President Moon is ready to send the Kim regime cash and aid, but the sanctions are preventing him from doing so.
What will be important to watch now is if the Trump administration flinches and allows some of the sanctions to be dropped to keep the negotiations going. If they do then truly nothing has changed, the Trump administration is just the latest government to be fooled by the Kim regime’s false promises to denuclearize.
