‘US Seeks To Resume Nuclear Talks With North Korea’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The United States has “signaled a desire” to resume stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea, the South Korean president reportedly said Wednesday.
The United Press International (UPI) news agency reported that President Moon-Joe-in views the appointment of a special U.S. envoy for the region as a move towards high-level talks.
It comes amid U.S. concerns about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. “The appointment of a special representative to North Korea by the United States is equivalent to requesting that North Korea resume dialogue,” Moon was quoted as saying.
He spoke during a briefing with the heads of South Korea’s major political parties, following his trip to the United States last week.
During Moon’s visit, which lasted from May 19 to Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden named career diplomat Sung Kim,
currently ambassador to Indonesia, as special envoy to North Korea.
Biden had been publicly critical about his predecessor’s dealings with North Korea’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un. Biden said last week that then-President Donald J. Trump gave the North Korean dictator all he wants.
Biden said any meeting with the reclusive Kim would come with preconditions, including setting parameters for further discussions on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and de-escalation.
“What I would not do is … do what had been done in the recent past,” Biden said. “I would not give him [Kim] all that he’s looking for, international recognition as legitimate and … give them what allowed him to move in the direction of appearing to be more … serious about what he wasn’t at all serious about.”
However, on Wednesday, President Moon said that a joint statement with Biden uses previous agreements with North Korea. He added that the 2018 Singapore Declaration between then-President Trump and North Korean leader Kim was “a starting point for diplomacy and dialogue.”
The June 2018 summit in Singapore produced a joint declaration in which Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” while Trump committed to providing security guarantees to North Korea.
Based on these agreements “it is possible to resume dialogue and start the peace clock again,” Moon said in remarks published by UPI.
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