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U.S. special envoy urges North Korea to return to talks

The Associated Press

United States President Joe Biden’s special envoy for North Korea said in late August 2021 that he’s ready to meet his North Korean counterparts “anywhere and at any time” as he held discussions with South Korean officials over stalled nuclear talks with the North.

Sung Kim’s visit to Seoul, South Korea, came amid declining expectations for a quick resumption of talks and new tensions over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises. North Korea claims the exercises are a rehearsal for an invasion and has threatened unspecified countermeasures.

After meeting with senior South Korean diplomat Noh Kyu-duk, Kim reiterated that President Biden’s administration has no hostile intent toward North Korea and that the joint drills are routine and defensive in nature. (Pictured: United States Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim, left, meets with South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk in Seoul, South Korea, on August 23, 2021.)

Kim and Noh told reporters they discussed possible ways to facilitate diplomacy, including humanitarian cooperation with North Korea in providing medical resources, sanitation and safe water. They did not announce any specific plans.

Kim was also scheduled to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, who was visiting Seoul.

“I continue to stand ready to meet with my North Korean counterpart at anywhere and at any time,” Kim said.

Talks between the U.S. and North Korea have stalled since the collapse of a summit between then-President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019, when the U.S. rejected the North’s demand for a major easing of economic sanctions in exchange for a partial reduction of its nuclear capabilities.

The North Korean leader has since pledged to bolster his country’s nuclear deterrent while urging citizens to stay resilient in a struggle for economic self-dependence. His regime has so far rejected calls for talks, demanding that Washington abandon its “hostile” policies first.

North Korea has closed its borders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will eventually have to open to humanitarian assistance and dialogue with the U.S. to carry out vaccinations, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. That doesn’t mean it will abstain from a missile test during or after the U.S.-South Korea military drills, Easley said.

Edwin Salvador, the World Health Organization’s representative to North Korea, said in mid-August that the North had yet to complete the “technical requirements” that are needed to receive vaccines under the United Nations-backed COVAX program.

The U.S. and South Korea in mid-August began a nine-day joint military exercise, which South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said was mostly computer-simulated and didn’t involve live field training. South Korean military officials said the North was also staging military exercises.

North Korea has long bristled at U.S.-South Korea military drills and often responds to them with weapons demonstrations.

Some analysts say North Korea’s recent threat may signal a resumption of its weapons testing. North Korea ended a yearlong pause in ballistic tests in March 2021 by firing two short-range missiles into the sea, continuing a tradition of weapons demonstrations after a new U.S. administration takes office.

There haven’t been any known test launches since then as the North Korean regime has focused on trying to salvage a broken economy damaged further by pandemic border closures and food shortages.

 

IMAGE CREDIT: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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