North Korea, U.S. hold preparatory meetings for Kim-Trump summit
- 6 years ago
북미정상회담 위한 준비 빠르게 이뤄지고있어,... 판문점에서는 어떤 의제로, 싱가폴에선 문제로 만나나?
North Korea and the U.S. appear to be back at work making preparations for their summit.
Already a number of working-level talks are held between the two sides.
Lee Ji-won zooms in on what could be covered during these meetings.
It's the second day of secretive meetings between the U.S. and North Korea on the northern side of Panmunjom.
The delegations are reportedly led by the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator, Sung Kim,... and from North Korea, Choe Son-hui, the regime's vice foreign minister and a former director of her ministry's North American department.
Both are experts in their fields, so pundits expect that they'll discuss the agenda and details of the Pyongyang-Washington summit.
And on the topic of denuclearization, what should be the first step.
"We have a basic idea of what the end-point of Pyongyang's denuclearization would look like if a deal is reached. But we don't yet have a clear picture of the first steps for it. And that's vital for building trust. So the U.S. could ask the North to take actions that clearly show its determination, which would also need to be reciprocated."
In fact, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Monday, citing U.S. officials,... that Washington is asking Pyongyang to first transfer the 20 nuclear warheads it is believed to have... to somewhere outside of its borders as soon as possible.
While that request could seem similar to the so-called "Libya model," Trump had said that he would not take that approach and instead focus on his "Trump model."
Trump last week had also, for the first time, hinted at the possibility of accepting a "phased-in" disarmament for North Korea.
And some experts say this new "Trump model" is what might be in discussion at Pamunjom.
"The North has protested strongly against having to give up its nukes first, which could have been one of the reasons it issued those aggressive statements two weeks ago. But with the two sides now sitting down to talk again, it's likely that the North accepted the U.S. request but also demanded, among other things, that it be done progressively."
Meanwhile, preparations in terms of technicial issues seem to be in the works over in Singapore.
A high-ranking North Korean official, Kim Chang-son, who heads the regime's State Affairs Commission Secretariat, was spotted at Beijing airport Monday morning, and is believed to have taken a Singapore flight in the afternoon, according to local sources.
With an advance team of White House and State Department officials, reportedly led by Deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, confirmed to have left for Singapore on Sunday, it's likely that the two sides will meet at the summit venue.
And since they'll be in the host city, expert says it's likely that they'll discuss protocol and details of the schedule.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
North Korea and the U.S. appear to be back at work making preparations for their summit.
Already a number of working-level talks are held between the two sides.
Lee Ji-won zooms in on what could be covered during these meetings.
It's the second day of secretive meetings between the U.S. and North Korea on the northern side of Panmunjom.
The delegations are reportedly led by the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator, Sung Kim,... and from North Korea, Choe Son-hui, the regime's vice foreign minister and a former director of her ministry's North American department.
Both are experts in their fields, so pundits expect that they'll discuss the agenda and details of the Pyongyang-Washington summit.
And on the topic of denuclearization, what should be the first step.
"We have a basic idea of what the end-point of Pyongyang's denuclearization would look like if a deal is reached. But we don't yet have a clear picture of the first steps for it. And that's vital for building trust. So the U.S. could ask the North to take actions that clearly show its determination, which would also need to be reciprocated."
In fact, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Monday, citing U.S. officials,... that Washington is asking Pyongyang to first transfer the 20 nuclear warheads it is believed to have... to somewhere outside of its borders as soon as possible.
While that request could seem similar to the so-called "Libya model," Trump had said that he would not take that approach and instead focus on his "Trump model."
Trump last week had also, for the first time, hinted at the possibility of accepting a "phased-in" disarmament for North Korea.
And some experts say this new "Trump model" is what might be in discussion at Pamunjom.
"The North has protested strongly against having to give up its nukes first, which could have been one of the reasons it issued those aggressive statements two weeks ago. But with the two sides now sitting down to talk again, it's likely that the North accepted the U.S. request but also demanded, among other things, that it be done progressively."
Meanwhile, preparations in terms of technicial issues seem to be in the works over in Singapore.
A high-ranking North Korean official, Kim Chang-son, who heads the regime's State Affairs Commission Secretariat, was spotted at Beijing airport Monday morning, and is believed to have taken a Singapore flight in the afternoon, according to local sources.
With an advance team of White House and State Department officials, reportedly led by Deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, confirmed to have left for Singapore on Sunday, it's likely that the two sides will meet at the summit venue.
And since they'll be in the host city, expert says it's likely that they'll discuss protocol and details of the schedule.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.