North Korea says it’s open to restarting nuclear negotiations with US in late September
A North Korean official said Monday that the country is willing to restart denuclearization negotiations with the United States later this month if the Trump administration presents satisfactory new proposals.
First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement published by North Korean state media that the country may end negotiations if the U.S. proposals are not adequate.{mosads}
Choe argued that the U.S. has had ample time to come up with new possibilities that will satisfy North Korea.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on North Korea’s statement.
President Trump has held three face-to-face meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The two held their second summit in Vietnam in February, where talks disintegrated without any concrete commitments after Kim pushed for sanctions relief before abandoning his nuclear arsenal.
Trump met with Kim again in June at the Demilitarized Zone and became the first sitting president to step into North Korea. The two sides agreed at the time to restart talks, but in the time since, North Korea has resumed regular missile launches.
Japan, South Korea and other U.S. allies have expressed alarm at the missile tests and said they violate a United Nations resolution. But Trump has repeatedly downplayed them, saying they don’t violate his personal pact with the North Korean dictator.
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