North Korea’s willingness to cut a surprise deal with the US on the future of its nuclear program does not signal any policy shift by the new North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a source with links to both Pyongyang and Beijing said.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also warned against applying pressure similar to the sanctions on Iran to get North Korea to jettison its nuclear ambitions, saying any perceived insincerity from Washington would quickly drive Pyongyang from the table.
Just weeks after Kim Jong-un succeeded his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Pyongyang agreed with the US last week to suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests, uranium enrichment at a nuclear facility, and to allow nuclear inspectors back. At the same time Washington pledged to resume food aid.
Despite the agreement, the source said not to read too much into it.
“There has been no change [in policy]. The door has always been open” from Pyongyang’s -perspective, he said.
Last week’s deal was possible because North Korea believed that the US was the one that returned to the table willing to make concessions, he said.
“In the past, either the United States did not trust North Korea or deliberately made North Korea an enemy. The United States straightened out its thinking this time,” the source said, explaining the North Korean view.
The two sides have held nuclear talks on-and-off for nearly two decades, but relations hit a low in 2009 when the North conducted a second nuclear test and a long-range missile launch. Washington imposed sanctions and Pyongyang walked out of regional de-nuclearization talks.
The US-North Korea deal could pave the way for the resumption of long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia.
The breakthrough has been met with guarded optimism by analysts and diplomats who noted that efforts to defuse tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula had seen many false dawns. They also expressed doubt that the North would ever give up its nuclear card, which Pyongyang sees as the ultimate deterrent and bargaining chip.
Asked why North Korea repeatedly reneged on past deals, the source said that denuclearization was “an end for the United States, but just a means for North Korea” to achieve its ultimate objective — survival.
“It is not fair to wholly blame North Korea,” he said.
Pyongyang’s suspicions of Washington run deep. In 2001, then-US president George W. Bush branded North Korea part of an “axis of evil” along with Iraq and Iran. Pyongyang fears it could be next after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the continuing pressure on Iran.
It all could unravel swiftly, the source added.
“If the United States stops -taking steps and treats North Korea as a foe instead of a friend, North Korea will be forced to deviate,” he said.
The Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice. Pyongyang wants a peace treaty to formally bring an end to that technical state of war, but it prefers a “one country, two governments” model that allows both to co--exist in a form of a commonwealth, he said.
Progress toward such an end would be slow. The source said North Korea will not deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak because it regarded him as “hostile.” Lee’s mandatory single five-year term ends next year.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese