N-Korea ready to negotiate with US on abandoning nuclear-weapons: Kim
North Korea is willing to begin negotiations with the US on abandoning its nuclear weapons, the country's leader Kim Jong-un reportedly told South Korean envoys. It would also stop all nuclear and missile tests during such talks. This is for the first time that Kim indicated his government's willingness to discuss abandoning nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees for the US. Here's more.
What does South Korean President Moon's office say?
"The North expressed its willingness to hold a heartfelt dialogue with the United States on the issues of denuclearization. It made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military-threat...was eliminated and its security guaranteed," President Moon's office stated.
N-Korea to ease tensions with S-Korea: Olympic-truce extension on cards?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also discussed ways to ease tensions on the peninsula with visiting South Korean envoys, stated the North Korean news agency KCNA. Kim had "warmly welcomed" South Korean officials, who handed over a letter from President Moon Jae-in. Hearing Jae-in's intention for a summit from South Korea's special envoy, Kim "exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement," reported KCNA.
Summit between Kim and Moon
During the South Korean envoys' two-day visit (until 6 March) to the North's Pyongyang, both the countries also agreed to hold a summit between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It would be held on the countries border in April.
Kim keen on easing acute military tension on Korean Peninsula
"He (Kim) also made an exchange of in-depth views on the issues for easing the acute military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and activating the versatile dialogue, contact, cooperation and exchange," KCNA reported. Kim's meeting with the most senior South Koreans to travel to the North in more than a decade is the latest step in an Olympics-driven rapprochement on the divided peninsula.
Kim delivered invitation to President Moon through his sister
The South Korean delegation pushed for talks between the nuclear-armed North Korean regime and the United States after Kim sent his sister Kim Yo-jong to the Winter Games in the South's Pyeongchang. He also sent an invitation to President Moon for a summit.
Pyeongchang Games provided atmosphere of reconciliation: Kim Jong-un
Kim Yo-jong's Pyeongchang trip was the first visit to the South by a member of the North's ruling dynasty since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Her appearance at the opening ceremony, where athletes from the two Koreas marched together, made global headlines. The Winter Olympics provided "a good atmosphere of reconciliation, unity, and dialogue between the North and the South," Jong-un stated.
President Moon wanted to open dialogue between US and North
President Moon sought to use Pyeongchang Games to open the US-North Korea dialogue, hoping to ease a nuclear standoff that has heightened global security fears. Before leaving for Pyongyang, the South's National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong said: "We plan to hold in-depth discussions for ways to continue not only inter-Korean talks but dialogue between North Korea and the international community including the United States."
US, N-Korea traded threats of war and sent tensions soaring
In defiance of UN sanctions, the isolated and impoverished North Korea last year staged its most powerful nuclear test and test-fired several missiles, some of them capable of reaching the US mainland. US President Donald Trump dubbed Kim "Little Rocket Man" and boasted about the size of his own nuclear button, while the North Korean leader called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard".
