US must open talks on North Korea sanctions relief to get progress on denuclearisation, former US diplomat says
- Joseph Yun, a former US envoy for North Korea policy, said he supported the idea of Washington saying ‘we’re willing to discuss certain [sanction] exemptions’
- Adjusting the US approach would move stalled negotiations forward, the former US envoy said
If the US wants North Korea to take concrete steps towards removing its nuclear weapons, it must begin discussing the possibility of lifting sanctions on the hermit state, a former top US diplomat for North Korea said on Friday.
Joseph Yun, former US special representative for North Korea policy at the State Department, said he supported the idea of Washington adjusting its message to say “we’re willing to discuss certain [sanction] exemptions” instead of continuing to insist on providing no sanctions relief to the North without “final and fully verified denuclearisation”.
It “opens up a whole avenue of discussion” to move stalled negotiations forward, the former US envoy told an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Yun made the comment while answering a question from James Schoff, a senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Programme. Schoff had asked if Yun agreed that the US needed to consider discussing sanctions relief to get progress from North Korea on denuclearisation.
Yun’s comments came hours after North Korea claimed it successfully tested an undisclosed “hi-tech tactical” weapon and that had decided to deport a US citizen who has been detained since October for illegally entering the country.