Exclusive | US and North Korea on track to meet for unofficial talks despite Trump threats and nuclear stand-off
Policy specialist says the two sides are likely to talk part in multilateral discussions at regional forum next month
North Korea is likely to engage in unofficial, multilateral talks that include the US next month, according to a Northeast Asia policy specialist.
North Korean officials are looking for more clarity about the US government’s willingness to engage in formal dialogue and under what terms, Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS and former special assistant to the head of US Pacific Command, told the South China Morning Post.
“There’s going to be a [Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific] general conference in December and they’ve been invited and we think they’re going to come,” Cossa said. “We’re trying to use track II to educate and push track I forward.”
Unofficial talks bringing lower-level North Korean officials together with analysts and advisers from the US, also known as “track II” dialogue, have continued sporadically this year despite increased missile tests by Pyongyang and threats by US President Donald Trump to hit North Korea with “fire and fury”. Track I refers to talks between senior government officials.
CSCAP, a 21-member forum for security issues in the region, includes delegations from North Korea, China, Russia and the US and often schedules meetings to coincide with convocations of the Asean Regional Forum.
Cossa, whose think tank organises US delegations to CSCAP meetings, made the remarks after a round-table discussion at the New York-based Korea Society.