Trump calls North Korea 'sincere' on possible nuclear talks, others skeptical

[webfact]

Trump calls North Korea 'sincere' on possible nuclear talks, others skeptical

By Jeff Mason and Christine Kim

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets a member of the special delegation of South Korea's President at a dinner in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 6, 2018. KCNA/via Reuters

 

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - Feeling the pressure of sanctions, North Korea seems "sincere" in its apparent willingness to halt nuclear tests if it held denuclearization talks with the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday as U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials voiced skepticism about any discussions.

 

Trump declined to say whether he had any preconditions for talks with Pyongyang as officials in the United States, South Korea, Japan and China responded with caution and guarded optimism to the possibility following months of insults and threats of war between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

 

"I think that they are sincere. And I think they're sincere also because of the sanctions and what we're doing with respect to North Korea, including the great help that we've been given from China," Trump said at a news conference after meeting with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in North Korea.

 

Word of possible talks was delivered by a South Korean delegation on its return from a first-ever meeting with North Korean leader Kim in Pyongyang on Monday.

 

A senior Trump administration official said, "We are open minded, we look forward to hearing more. But ... the North Koreans have earned our skepticism, so we're a bit guarded in our optimism." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "our posture toward the regime will not change until we see credible moves toward denuclearization."

 

Routine U.S. military exercises with allies in the region would resume, the official said. The next U.S.-South Korean exercises are expected in April.

 

Some U.S. and South Korean officials said a breakthrough on the Trump administration's top national-security challenge remained unlikely after the failure of previous talks, adding that North Korea may be trying to buy time to develop its weapons programs and seek relief from punishing American and U.N. sanctions.

 

More than 10 hours since Seoul made the announcement, there was no comment from Pyongyang.

 

'POSITIVE' STATEMENTS

 

Earlier, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he met with Lofven that the United States had "come a long way, at least rhetorically" with North Korea and "statements coming out of South Korea and North Korea have been very positive."

 

Asked if he had any preconditions for talks, Trump said, "I don't want to talk about it. We're going to see what happens."

 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the United States would continue to apply "maximum pressure" on North Korea and that all options were "on the table" until Washington sees evidence that the reclusive country was taking steps toward denuclearization.

 

Lofven said Sweden could provide a channel for the main parties grappling with the North Korea nuclear issue because of its longtime diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

 

"It is not up to us to solve the problem but with our presence ... if the key actors ask us to help we can be there," Lofven told the news conference.

 

Next month, North Korea and South Korea will have the first meeting between their leaders since 2007 at the border village of Panmunjom, said Chung Eui-yong, head of the South Korean delegation.

 

"North Korea made clear its willingness to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and the fact there is no reason for it to have a nuclear program if military threats against the North are resolved and its regime is secure," Chung told a media briefing.

 

Chung cited North Korea as saying it would not carry out nuclear or missile tests while talks with the international community were under way.

 

North Korea has not carried out any such tests since last November. North Korea also is willing to discuss normalizing ties with the United States, Chung said.

 

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters late on Tuesday that "it is necessary to assess whether the North-South summit will really lead to the (North’s) abandonment of nuclear and missile development."

 

Tensions have eased significantly on the Korean peninsula since the Winter Olympics in the South last month, even though the countries are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

 

Since North Korea pulled out of so-called six-party denuclearization talks in 2009, Pyongyang has developed new nuclear capabilities. It tested its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile in November, which it said could reach all of the U.S. mainland.

 

China encouraged North and South Korea to continue reconciliation efforts.

 

Despite skepticism about Pyongyang's intentions, the prospect of talks represents a significant potential development after heightened tensions and rhetoric between Kim and Trump, who last August threatened "fire and fury" if the North threatened the United States again.

 

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other Trump administration officials are due to meet this week with South Korean officials, including the South Korean national security adviser, two White House officials said.

 

Global stock markets rose on the news about North Korea. The broadest gauge of shares, MSCI's All Country World Index <.MIWD00000PUS>, rose 0.7 percent.

 

'TREASURED SWORD'

 

North Korea has vowed never to give up its nuclear program, which it calls a "treasured sword" against a possible U.S. invasion. The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea but denies any invasion plans.

 

If Pyongyang demands the departure of those troops, that could render any summit talk impossible, a South Korean government official said.

 

"If the North were to move things forward, they would present something more realistic and doable," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

In Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said it was too early to assess North Korea's willingness on denuclearization.

 

"Hope springs eternal but we need to learn a lot more relative to these talks. And we will," U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a Senate Armed Services hearing.

 

Lieutenant General Robert Ashley, director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, told the same hearing he did not share a sense of optimism, adding, "That's kind of a 'show me,' and so we'll see how this plays out."

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Christine Kim in Seoul; additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Linda Sieg in Tokyo and John Walcott, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom, Ayesha Rascoe, Roberta Rampton, Eric Walsh and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Grant McCool; Editing by Yara Bayoumy, Will Dunham and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-07

[PhonThong]

I am elated that North Korea is willing to talk about denuclearization. I am also under no delusion that the little fat guy with the weird haircut doesn't have ulterior motives up his sleeve.  No leader of N. Korea has kept any promises made in the past. They talk righteously until they get sanctions removed and foreign aid allowed again. The food they claim they need for the people that only go to the military and the hierarchy. 

 Little Kim, I believe wants unification under the terms that the south will be under the control or the North.  I really believe in his delusional mind he sees himself at the helm of the Korean government. The whole Korean government.

 This, of course, would not be acceptable to the S. Korean people as I believe it. 

 It would surely be a fine day to see all this hostility come to an end, but being the pessimist that I am, and I make no apologies for it. It has served me well.  I truly don't believe all this hoopla is going to have a happy ending.  I pray that I am wrong.

[owl sees all]

North Korea (NK) is on the US hit list for regime change. Some others on the list are Iran, China, Cuba, Syria. Off the list (at least for now) Iraq, Afganistan, Libia, Sudan.

 

NK is secretly being supported by China and Russia. US will find difficulity winning this one without a serious domino effect.

 

A bigger longer-term problem is China's claim to most of the South China sea. The US does not want to appear weak in this area.

 

And all the while the Universe is expanding but less fast than it was yesterday. Soon it will reach the point where it will go into reverse mode. Some time after this reversal everything will be squashed into a sphere the size of the moon and another BIG BANG will occur. Whether humans will be lucky enough in the future to have a life remains to be seen.

 

In the big picture all this squabbling over NK seems futile.

[ostyan]

Whatever Kim says is empty. Only a fool can believe NK. The West and US did it twice......

[punchjudy]

you would have to be nuts giving up your nukes faced with the yanks recent history (iraq, libya, etc)

[sanemax]

This could be the turning point .

North Korea may be coming in from the cold .

North Korea may be joining the world community .

It would be a success for Mr Trump and a rightful recipient of the Nobel peace prize, should be be awarded it for his efforts

[owl sees all]

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

This could be the turning point .

North Korea may be coming in from the cold .

North Korea may be joining the world community .

It would be a success for Mr Trump and a rightful recipient of the Nobel peace prize, should be be awarded it for his efforts

And the first people across the border; Monsanto and the IMF.

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

And the first people across the border; Monsanto and the IMF.

No, it will be the Men in Black and the Illuminati 

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, PhonThong said:

I am elated that North Korea is willing to talk about denuclearization.

Except for the fact that North Korea is not on record having made such commitment. It has been the South Korean delegation characterization of their talks with North Korea and statement from the office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in. That may not even be an interpretation from the talks but more a fabrication to appease Trump's ego and keep him from taking military action.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

North Korea may be trying to buy time to develop its weapons programs and seek relief from punishing American and U.N. sanctions.

This is not something South Korea would want Trump to believe. The perception by many international leaders is that Trump would be quick to a "bloody nose" first strike if he thought talks have no precondition of denuclearization discussions.

[dunroaming]

Well I hope this is genuine in the same way I used to hope that on Christmas eve  Santa was on his way with my presents.

 

I fear that Kim is just playing Trump as he has done in the past.  He will have his agenda and it may well be to either buy time or get sanctions lifted or maybe something less obvious.

[ronz28]

Here are some comments by US  Senator Tammy Duckworth on peace with North Korea and her own perseverance in her journey in life:  http://www.pbs.org/video/amanpour-tammy-duckworth-and-andrew-lloyd-webber-hgosjy/

 

[ilostmypassword]

On 3/7/2018 at 7:07 AM, PhonThong said:

I am elated that North Korea is willing to talk about denuclearization. I am also under no delusion that the little fat guy with the weird haircut doesn't have ulterior motives up his sleeve.  No leader of N. Korea has kept any promises made in the past. They talk righteously until they get sanctions removed and foreign aid allowed again. The food they claim they need for the people that only go to the military and the hierarchy. 

 Little Kim, I believe wants unification under the terms that the south will be under the control or the North.  I really believe in his delusional mind he sees himself at the helm of the Korean government. The whole Korean government.

 This, of course, would not be acceptable to the S. Korean people as I believe it. 

 It would surely be a fine day to see all this hostility come to an end, but being the pessimist that I am, and I make no apologies for it. It has served me well.  I truly don't believe all this hoopla is going to have a happy ending.  I pray that I am wrong.

And yet you are elated. Why?

[ilostmypassword]

On 3/7/2018 at 7:40 AM, owl sees all said:

North Korea (NK) is on the US hit list for regime change. Some others on the list are Iran, China, Cuba, Syria. Off the list (at least for now) Iraq, Afganistan, Libia, Sudan.

 

NK is secretly being supported by China and Russia. US will find difficulity winning this one without a serious domino effect.

 

A bigger longer-term problem is China's claim to most of the South China sea. The US does not want to appear weak in this area.

 

And all the while the Universe is expanding but less fast than it was yesterday. Soon it will reach the point where it will go into reverse mode. Some time after this reversal everything will be squashed into a sphere the size of the moon and another BIG BANG will occur. Whether humans will be lucky enough in the future to have a life remains to be seen.

 

In the big picture all this squabbling over NK seems futile.

Your cosmology is outdated. Look up dark energy.