US–North Korea relations have certainly made major leaps in a better direction, since North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un held a summit with US President Donald Trump in June 2018 last year.
Thought it’s only been six months since the dramatic turn in relations, naysayers haven’t stopped themselves from arguing that there’s clearly been a lack of effort from either side to resolve their tensions.
However this week, as RAW reports, North Korea have stated they can foresee the relations developing ‘wonderfully at a fast pace’ if Washington acknowledges their efforts at denuclearisation and responds with practical and honourable actions.
North Korea willing to meet halfway
According to RAW, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament that Pyongyang would continue working to establish a ‘permanent and durable peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula’.
‘Accordingly we declared that we would neither make and test nuclear weapons any longer nor use and proliferate them and we have taken various practical measures.
‘If the US responds to our efforts with trustworthy measures and corresponding practical actions, bilateral relations will develop wonderfully at a fast pace through the process of taking more definite and epoch-making steps.’
Of course, we aren’t naïve enough to believe this is a signed and sealed promise for denuclearisation on North Korea’s part.
US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has even admitted North Korea ‘is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities’ as they ‘view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival’.
But the very fact that North Korea are looking for compromise shows a great level of improvement in the relations which were once ‘the most hostile on Earth’.
US–North Korea progress being downplayed
Coats even conceded that North Korea ‘has halted its provocative behavior’ by refraining from nuclear and missile tests for the last 12 months.
‘As well, Kim Jong Un continues to demonstrate openness to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,’ Coats said.
President Trump has also relayed his belief that his progress with North Korea is being heavily downplayed by the Fake News conglomerates. As he said in a tweet over the weekend:
‘The Fake News Media loves saying “so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un.” Wrong! After 40 years of doing nothing with North Korea but being taken to the cleaners, & with a major war ready to start, in a short 15 months, relationships built, hostages & remains….
‘…back home where they belong, no more Rockets or M’s being fired over Japan or anywhere else and, most importantly, no Nuclear Testing. This is more than has ever been accomplished with North Korea, and the Fake News knows it. I expect another good meeting soon, much potential!’
Kim Jong-un and Trump may meet sometime next month, RAW has reported. There they will discuss ways to solidify a curbing of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. This may include dismantling its main nuclear complex and allowing international inspections to confirm the process.
Keep an eye on this space for further updates.
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