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In a violent escalation, North Korea on Saturday accused the United States of a "gangster spirit" in the high-level negotiations on denuclearization, a flagrant contradiction in description Negotiations by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The diplomatic disconnect clearly shows that nations are not on the same wavelength. He questions the US effort to extract concessions from Pyongyang and highlights a big difference in the way the two sides see the agreement between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month .
"I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding," said CNN Global Affairs Analyst Joseph Yun, a former top American diplomat on North Korean politics. "The United States still thinks that North Korea will denuclearize substantially before we give them major rewards, while North Korea thinks the two must move together, and both make concessions."
North Korea's reprimand – and the fact that Pompeo left the talks with little effort to show his effort – suggests that Pyongyang, and not the United States, are laying down the terms of the negotiation. Rather than announce concrete achievements, the more Pompeo seemed able to deliver on Saturday was the promise of more talks. Two US diplomats and other sources familiar with preparations for Pompeo's trip said that the US diplomat should clarify some issues not directly related to denuclearization, including the return of US military remnants from the Korean War and Pompeo, who staked out his political future on efforts to dismantle the isolated country's nuclear program, had little to say about the remains or the missile site in his Saturday remarks to reporters. He said a meeting was set up for July 12 that will involve "discussions among the people responsible for the repatriation of remains," and that "some progress" has been made in discussing "what will the modalities look like? for the destruction "of the missile facility, but overall he offered some details.
Kim did not meet Pompeo, a move that could be interpreted as a snub, although his spokesman said that it was never a wait. Instead, the top US diplomat met Friday and Saturday again with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Party Central Committee.
Pompeo insisted Saturday in front of the journalists that "the complete denuclearization of North Korea" remains the objective and "nobody has moved away from that", adding: "President Kim is always committed . " But in response to a reporter's question on whether the US is moving closer to a timetable for denuclearization, he said: "I will not go into the details of our conversations . "
Despite the contradictory view of the talks, a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said Saturday at the end of a lengthy statement: "We always cherish our good faith to President Trump."
Yun said that Pyongyang seemed to be benefiting in the talks right now.
"Up to now, it seems that North Korea has won more than the United States," he said, "it seems that North Korea dictates the pace and direction of talks".
The most recent talks point to the difficult situation in which Pompeo finds himself while he's trying to make Trump's vague rhetoric a reality with one of the toughest and most difficult negotiating partners recalcitrant on the world stage. North Korea has thwarted other administrations with a combination of contradictions, subterfuges and mixed messages – and it is true to reality.
Current officials, diplomatic sources and other people familiar with internal discussions say that the administration is struggling to These sources indicate that the Trump administration still has to be d & # 39; agreement with North Koreans on a common goal or timeline, or on which will go on to detailed negotiations with Pyongyang alongside Pompeo.
Administration officials familiar with work on North Korea told CNN that they were worried if Pompeo was coming back from this trip – his third in North Korea in as many months – with no plan specific. in hand to go from the front.
They say that there is a sense in the White House and in the State Department that they need a solid timetable or some details about the denuclearization of Korea in the North at the end of August
Shortly after, military exercises suspended with South Korea – that Trump and Pompeo call "war games" in North Korean terminology – should resume .
There is also speculation that Trump and Kim could end up at the UN General Assembly, which will take place every September.
Such a meeting, or even a return trip from Pompeo to Pyongyang would be difficult for the administration to accept without tangible progress.
