Trump-Kim summit 2019: North Korea stages late-night press conference to deny US president’s claims about why summit ended
- North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho says that contrary to Trump’s claims, Pyongyang only sought partial sanctions relief but offered to dismantle reactor
- Trump earlier said he ‘had to walk’ from summit because Kim Jong-un wanted sanctions ‘lifted in their entirety’ before moving on weapons
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said at the unusual media event that Pyongyang had made “realistic” proposals, including dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex.
Ri said North Korea asked Washington in return to partially lift sanctions, not entirely, contradicting Trump’s earlier claim.
“Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that … we had to walk away from it,” Trump had said after the two sides cancelled a planned signing ceremony. “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times.”
But Ri said that was untrue.
“What we have asked for was partial lifting of sanctions, not entirely. In detail, we asked to lift five sanctions that were imposed within 2016 and 2017, out of a total of 11 sanctions, which would affect ordinary people’s economy and life,” Ri said at the abruptly scheduled press conference.
The two leaders also skipped a working lunch, and Trump moved his briefing to journalists forward by two hours. He said his decision not to strike some kind of agreement showed his preference to “do it right, rather than do it fast”, and was a rebuke to critics who said he was being too soft on the hermit kingdom’s leader.
