To talk through the current situation with North Korea, we have with us Dr. Go Myong-hyun
from the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Thank you for making the time to come in today.
Thanks for having me.
1 - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has now said North Korea denuclearization, quote,
"may take some time".
A month ago after Kim and Trump met in Singapore, Pompeo said he hoped that the denuclearization
process could be completed by the end of Trump's first term in 2020.
This shows that they have conceded that this process will take time, and perhaps its shows
the administration's naivety going in to those talks last month?
2 - Trump said on Tuesday, there is no rush and there is no timeline for North Korea's
denuclearization.
He reiterated those comments in a tweet yesterday.
Do you think this shows that actually Washington is not in a rush with North Korea at the moment?
3 - North Korea
has called for a step-by-step approach towards denuclearization, building trust, in a tit-for-tat
fashion...
Does this concede too much leverage to North Korea?
4 - Pompeo and Trump have stressed that sanctions on North Korea remain in place, and will do
so until the regime denuclearizes.
How much of a weapon are the sanctions?
How much is North Korea suffering because of them?
5 - Immediate denuclearization of North Korea seems impossible in the short term.
But what actions could North Korea conceivably take to show the U.S. that they are willing
to take steps towards denuclearization.
For example, previously they talked about producing a list of weapons and nuclear material
that they have...
5a - There are the issue of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War that
are set to be returned possibly in the next couple of weeks.
How will that play into the denuclearization negotiation?
6 - The concern is that as negotiations like this drags out, no denuclearization deal will
ever be reached, and that would mean that North Korea continues to own and develop nuclear
weapons.
Do you think the nuclear program is still running?
7 - Does the U.S. have to change their plan of action?
They have to plan for the long-game rather than the previous one of reaching denuclearization
by the end of Trump's first term...
8 - For President Moon Jae-in, his ambition is to see relations with North Korea normalized,
so that both Korea's can prosper.
But if the situation stays like this it will be frustrating for him and
he won't be able to go ahead with what he wants to do.
Do you think he
will try to get involved and broker some sort of deal
to try and move things forward?
Do you think he will have much influence?
9 - For South Korea, there has been a lot of talks and progress made with North Korea.
Worst case scenario, negotiations with North Korea and U.S. break down: Can the inter-Korean
relations and projects survive?
10 - One interesting development...
There are reports that say
North Korea have called in their overseas mission chiefs back to Pyongyang to hold some
sort of meeting.
It's not clear what the agenda is or why they
have been
called back, but there are various rumours such as plans to hold summits with
U.S.
South Korea and China.
What do you make of
this meeting?
Thank you for
coming
in today.