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.


Top US Negotiator on North Korea Blames Pyongyang for Deadlock

Agence France-Presse

   SEOUL - The outgoing U.S. point man on North Korea admitted Thursday
   that the Trump administration had not achieved what it sought with Kim
   Jong Un, but blamed Pyongyang for squandering the opportunity for
   progress.

   Talks over the North's nuclear arsenal have been stalled since early
   last year when a summit in Hanoi between President Donald Trump and
   leader Kim collapsed over what the North would be willing to give up in
   exchange for a loosening of sanctions.

   Trump's extraordinary and headline-grabbing engagement with Kim had
   been "ambitious and bold," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen
   Biegun, who has led denuclearization talks with Pyongyang, but had "yet
   to deliver the success we hoped for."

   "You might wonder if I am disappointed that we did not accomplish more
   over the past two years. I am," he added on his official last visit to
   Seoul.

   But he blamed Pyongyang for the failure, saying that "much opportunity
   has been squandered by our North Korean counterparts over the past two
   years," he told the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a South Korean
   think tank.

   They "too often have devoted themselves to the search for obstacles to
   negotiations instead of seizing opportunities for engagement," he
   added.

.