North Korea's FM says it only requested partial removal of sanctions
- 5 years ago
Let's start with highly-anticipated North Korea-U.S. summit that fizzled out to a whimper rather than going out with a bag.
North Korea's top diplomat is disputing President Trump's account of the summit talks that broke up early on Thursday.
For more, let's connect live to our Lee Ji-won in Hanoi.
Ji-won, so tell us more about North Korea's foreign minister ( Ri Yong-ho's late night media conference?
Mark it was about 11-30 p.m., last night when reporters began to find out about this sudden presser,... same for us as well.
So once we found out, we ran out to the Melia Hanoi, where the North Korean delegates are staying.
And soon the press conference began,... and what we heard from them was a bit different from what we had heard earlier from President Donald Trump.
Let's take a listen.
"We proposed to permanently and completely dismantle all nuclear material-productive facilities in the Yeongbyeon area, including plutonium and uranium, in the presence of U.S. experts and by the joint work of technicians from both sides IF the U.S. removed partial UN sanctions that hamper our economy and the livelihood of our people."
Now, President Trump had earlier said the North Koreans wanted the sanctions lifted in their "entirety", but they were only willing to denuclearize some areas the U.S. wanted, not all of them.
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho claims they specifically asked to first lift five of the eleven sanctions under UN Security Council resolutions that damage the everyday lives of the North Korean people.
He added this was the biggest denuclearization step the North could take for now, considering its current level of trust with Washington.
Ri said they even offered to write up a promise to permanently cease nuclear testing and missile launches.
And while the North Koreans reportedly said the denuclearization process can pick up speed if they build more trust, they claim the U.S. continued to demand the North give up one more thing on top of dismantling Yeongbyeon.
And Ri says it was this sticking point that led the North Koreans to realize President Trump and his delegation were not prepared to accept their proposal.
The regime's foreign minister then warned that Pyeongyang's stance will never change,... and a chance as good as Hanoi may never happen again.
Back to you Mark.
North Korea's top diplomat is disputing President Trump's account of the summit talks that broke up early on Thursday.
For more, let's connect live to our Lee Ji-won in Hanoi.
Ji-won, so tell us more about North Korea's foreign minister ( Ri Yong-ho's late night media conference?
Mark it was about 11-30 p.m., last night when reporters began to find out about this sudden presser,... same for us as well.
So once we found out, we ran out to the Melia Hanoi, where the North Korean delegates are staying.
And soon the press conference began,... and what we heard from them was a bit different from what we had heard earlier from President Donald Trump.
Let's take a listen.
"We proposed to permanently and completely dismantle all nuclear material-productive facilities in the Yeongbyeon area, including plutonium and uranium, in the presence of U.S. experts and by the joint work of technicians from both sides IF the U.S. removed partial UN sanctions that hamper our economy and the livelihood of our people."
Now, President Trump had earlier said the North Koreans wanted the sanctions lifted in their "entirety", but they were only willing to denuclearize some areas the U.S. wanted, not all of them.
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho claims they specifically asked to first lift five of the eleven sanctions under UN Security Council resolutions that damage the everyday lives of the North Korean people.
He added this was the biggest denuclearization step the North could take for now, considering its current level of trust with Washington.
Ri said they even offered to write up a promise to permanently cease nuclear testing and missile launches.
And while the North Koreans reportedly said the denuclearization process can pick up speed if they build more trust, they claim the U.S. continued to demand the North give up one more thing on top of dismantling Yeongbyeon.
And Ri says it was this sticking point that led the North Koreans to realize President Trump and his delegation were not prepared to accept their proposal.
The regime's foreign minister then warned that Pyeongyang's stance will never change,... and a chance as good as Hanoi may never happen again.
Back to you Mark.