Opinion | US-North Korea talks made second Trump-Kim summit likely, but first they need a breakthrough
- Having hosted negotiator Kim Yong-chol on Friday, the US’ Stephen Biegun is to meet diplomat Choe Son-hui to discuss critical details
- Differing interpretations of what was agreed at the first summit in Singapore left the US no closer to its goal of verifiably disarming North Korea
The 2019 diplomatic season between the United States and North Korea is officially on. Last Friday, North Korean official Kim Yong-chol – the man who has been the lead negotiator on behalf of Kim Jong-un since the Singapore summit last June – visited Washington.
He became the first North Korean official since Jo Myong-rok, Kim Jong-il’s envoy in 2000, to spend a night in the US capital. He briefly met his counterpart, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then spent nearly two hours in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump.
Since its Singapore talks with Trump, North Korea has made clear its preference to deal directly with the president. Pyongyang has perceived, correctly, that Trump is unlike the presidents that preceded him. He is less attached to old shibboleths about what the United States might or might not accept in a negotiation with North Korea.
The best evidence of this came after his June meetings with Kim Jong-un, when Trump announced, without having consulted South Korea, that the then-forthcoming Ulchi Freedom Guardian military drills would be cancelled.
After the latest meetings in Washington, it is unclear whether either side has changed its basic position. The White House appears to be still committed to the objective of final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea. And although US officials continue to repeat that this is what Kim Jong-un agreed to in Singapore, nothing could be further from reality.
In Singapore, Kim agreed to “work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”. In the months since, North Korean officials have been frustrated at the White House’s consistent insistence on the alternative phrasing – a phrasing that implies the unilateral disarmament of North Korea.