The Trump administration is reacting cautiously to an apparent overture from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to South Korea, and Seoul’s willingness to take him up on it.
The Trump administration reacted cautiously Tuesday to an apparent diplomatic overture from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to neighboring South Korea, and to Seoul’s proposal to begin talks directly with Pyongyang next week, a move that could sideline the United States in the volatile region.
After staying mum for two days about Kim’s offer, President Trump issued a tweet early Tuesday from the White House that repeated his favorite insult for the North Korean ruler, and then seemed to take partial credit for any potential rapprochement while staying ambivalent about possible outcomes.
“Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not — we will see!” Trump wrote.
Trump cited the growing web of international sanctions as well as what he called “‘other’ pressures,” which he did not describe, for the nascent thaw in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Communist North Korea and U. S.-backed South Korea still have not signed a formal cease-fire for the civil war that ended in 1953.
If Washington was wary, Seoul appeared eager to accept Kim’s offer, which was part of a New Year’s speech that is closely analyzed each year for clues to the enigmatic leader’s thinking.
Cho Myoung-gyon, South Korea’s minister for unification, proposed Tuesday that negotiators meet on Jan. 9 at the divided border village of Panmunjom to discuss cooperation at next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and how to improve overall ties.
So far, no North Korean athlete has qualified for the Games, which start on Feb. 9. But South Korean officials have said they are working with the International Olympic Committee to grant wild cards to North Korean athletes in a sign of inter-Korean reconciliation.
The Jan. 9 talks, should they take place, notably would not include the United States, China, Japan or Russia, which have dealt with North Korea in unsuccessful multi-party negotiations in the past. Nor would they include U. S. demands that Pyongyang give up its growing nuclear arsenal, and stop testing long-range ballistic missiles.
That raised red flags for U. S. officials who questioned Kim’s motives, his sincerity and South Korea’s ability to deal with its nuclear-armed neighbor.
“We won’t take any talks with North Korea seriously if they don’t do something to ban their nuclear weapons,” Nikki Haley, the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, said at the U. N. on Tuesday. She said Pyongyang was a “reckless regime” that could not be counted on to enter talks in good faith.
“We don’t need a Band-Aid,” she said.
