U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang to meet with North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong Un in the latest round of negotiations over the proposed denuclearisation process. The relationship between the US and North Korea has always been fractious. During…
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang to meet with North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong Un in the latest round of negotiations over the proposed denuclearisation process.
Background
The relationship between the US and North Korea has always been fractious. During the war between North and South Korea in 1950, US forces successfully intervened on behalf of South Korea. To this day, there are 28,500 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in South Korea as part of United States Forces Korea (USFK). Read more on the history of the peninsula here.
The North Korean nuclear program has been a source of concern for the US and the international community for decades. North Korea has remained an isolated nation and its nuclear program has especially been a concern for the international community. In 2017, North Korea launched 23 missiles over the course of 16 tests. In November, North Korea tested its most potent missile yet. The Hwasong-15 missile reached an unprecedented height of almost 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles).
US President Trump has taken an aggressive stance while countering North Korea. Both Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump were locked in an extended war of words in 2017. Trump said that North Korea “will be met with fire and the fury like the world has never seen.” North Korea responded by announcing that plans were underway for it to strike Guam, a US territory.
However, since the beginning of 2018, global tensions with the isolated state began to ease. Pyongyang has indicated that it is willing to re-establish diplomatic ties with the outside world, beginning with the PyeongChang Olympics, which were hailed as the “Peace Olympics”.
Read more about our extensive analysis of the negotiations between the US and North Korea here, here and here.
Analysis
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed to arrange a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump “as soon as possible,” and discussed potential U.S. inspections of North Korean nuclear sites, South Korea’s presidential office said Sunday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks with Pompeo in Seoul on Sunday evening after the top U.S. diplomat met with Kim for more than three hours during a short trip to Pyongyang that was aimed at breaking a gridlock in their nuclear talks.
According to Moon’s press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, Pompeo told Moon that he and Kim discussed denuclearization steps to be taken by the North and the issue of U.S. government inspections of those actions, which Washington has been calling for, as well as what measures the United States will conduct in return. Pompeo and Kim also agreed to form a working group “at an early date” to discuss the denuclearization process and the second summit, which Kim proposed to Trump in a letter last month.
While Seoul sounded upbeat, Pompeo struck a more cautious tone. Moon expressed hope that Pompeo’s trip and the proposed second meeting between Kim and Trump will make “irreversible, decisive progress in terms of denuclearization as well as the peace process.
Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization at the Singapore summit, but Pyongyang’s actions have since fallen short of Washington’s demands for irreversible steps to give up its arsenal, including declaring all nuclear and missile facilities. At last month’s meeting with Moon, Kim promised to allow outside inspections of key missile facilities, and expressed a willingness, for the first time, to “permanently” scrap Yongbyon, North Korea’s main nuclear complex.
However, Pompeo’s last trip did not go well. He left Pyongyang in July hailing progress, only for North Korea to denounce him for making “gangster-like demands.” Pompeo did not meet Kim on that trip.
Mike Pompeo, has however, declined to comment when asked if he would agree to North Korean demands for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War. He also not completely accepted South Korea’s suggestion that to break the current stalemate, which involved an inventory of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Recently, Pompeo has angered North Korea by insisting that international sanctions must remain in place until it gives up its nuclear weapons.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told the UN last month that continued sanctions are deepening the North’s mistrust of the US and there is no way Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally under such circumstances.
Assessment
Our assessment is that Mike Pompeo’s recent visit may be intended to work out the minor details of the proposed denuclearisation program with Pyongyang. This visit may also influence Washington’s thinking on whether or not to lift the sanctions on North Korea. We believe that the recent summit between Kim and President Trump was meant to emphasise the US’s readiness to engage in dialogue for a peaceful resolution in the Korean Peninsula. As stated earlier, Pyongyang is in pursuit of being recognised as a responsible stakeholder in the community of nations.
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