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SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – North Korean leader Kim Jong talks to nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, experts said Sunday (Nov 11).
South Korea's Moon Jae-in-government is pushing to hold the fourth inter-Korean summit between Mr Moon and Mr Kim in Seoul within the year, in the hope of facilitating a breakthrough in the deadlocked US-North Korea talks.
One of the unexpected achievements of the third summit, which was held in September in Pyongyang, was the North Korean leader in Seoul.
Mr Moon said at the National Assembly earlier this month that it will take place in the near future.
Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon said Friday at a meeting that Kim is visiting the country is "possible," and the ministry continues consultations with North Korean officials.
In a display of closer inter-Korean ties, the presidential office has a gift of 200 tons of tangerines to North Korea on Sunday. North Korea gives South Korea the following link between Moon and Kim.
But Kim's visit to Seoul is closely linked to the US-North Korea's high-level meeting, as well as to a North-Korean summit.
The meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, did not take place as planned Thursday.
The North postponed it, citing "hectic schedules," according to South Korean and US diplomats.
While there may be some delay in the process, there is speculation that the cancellation is between Washington and Pyongyang over who should make a concession first before moving on their denuclearization talks.
North Korea is calling on the US to ease sanctions before it takes further denuclearization steps, while the US is making clear that it will continue to impose economic sanctions on the North until it completely denuclearized despite ongoing engagement with the reclusive country.
US Vice President Mike Pence said the US will "continue to exert unprecedented diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea" until it achieves the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in an op-ed published Friday in the Washington Post.
United States Ambassador Nikki Haley said Friday that the US . "
The US was also trying to get China, North Korea's Cold War, which is locked in a trade war with the US, on its side for sanctions implementation during their bilateral meeting on Friday.
Mr Pompeo said that China's cooperation will help to make this breakthrough on this important issue, "after the Chinese counterpart during the meeting, called the US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue.
US President Donald Trump said last week that Washington is "in no rush" as the sanctions are still "on" during a press conference following the US midterm elections.
In response, North Korea is using its state-of-the-art news media and propaganda websites to express discomfort about the US 'calling for tighter enforcement of the sanctions against the North, and the slow pace of inter-Korean projects.
"If the US does not implement the (June 12) statement, the following is a statement of the case. "Japan's pro-North Korean newspaper" Choson Sinbo said in an article, apparently targeting Trump's recent remarks.
North Korea's newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Friday urged its people to overreact and sanctions with unity and self-reliance in a front-page editorial, titled "Let's go our own way and build a powerful socialist state."
With the prolonged stalemate in denuclearization negotiations between the US and North Korea, it seems to be difficult for Kim to visit Seoul and inter-Korean projects to further move ahead this year.
"South Korea will continue to work for the United States and North Korea," said Park Won-gon, a professor at Handong Global University.
"But for Kim, visiting Seoul without any progress in the US-North Korea relations could be a burden because it would be more restrictive from South Korea's conservative and more skepticism from the US," he said. "I think Kim will decide on his visit to Seoul after the high-level meeting between Pompeo and Kim."
Mr Shin Beom-cheol, research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, also said that there is a possibility of Kim visiting Seoul this year.
"I think North Korea would want to come to Seoul on the back of some progress in its relations with the US so it could gain economic rewards – economic assistance, for example – from South Korea," he said.
"Without progress in the US-North Korea denuclearization talks, South Korea can not offer tangible economic benefits, meaning it is not much
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