Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


North Korea: Willing to Restart Nuclear Talks with US

Ken Bredemeier

   North Korea said Monday it is willing to reopen denuclearization talks
   with the United States in late September, but warned that Washington
   needs to come up with fresh ideas or risks jeopardizing the
   negotiations.

   Talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalemated since a second
   summit in February between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean
   leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi ended abruptly without a deal. Trump
   rejected Kim's demand for relief from the debilitating U.S. economic
   sanctions in return for partial denuclearization.

   The two leaders agreed at a short meeting in June at the Demilitarized
   Zone separating North and South Korea to restart staff level talks but
   they have yet to start.

   In the new overture, Choe Son Hui, the North's vice foreign minister,
   said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency,
   "We are willing to sit face-to-face with the U.S. around late September
   at a time and place that we can agree on."

   But Choe said the United States has to produce an "acceptable
   calculation" or risk the end of the talks, apparently a statement aimed
   at pushing the United States toward making concessions to North Korea,
   such as on the economic sanctions.

   There was no immediate response from the U.S. on the North Korean
   statement, although Washington has expressed a willingness to resume
   talks and has set a goal for the denuclearization of the Korean
   peninsula by the end of Trump's first term in office in January 2021.

   At their first summit more than a year ago in Singapore, Trump and Kim
   adopted a statement calling for the "complete denuclearization of the
   Korean peninsula."

   Trump returned from Singapore to Washington, saying, "There is no
   longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Sleep well tonight!"

.