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 by Staff Writers United Nations, United States (AFP) March 13, 2018
The United States on Monday urged the United Nations Security Council to maintain sanctions on North Korea until there is real progress toward scrapping Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. US National Security Advisor HR McMaster met with council ambassadors in New York, a few days after President Donald Trump agreed to a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "We are all agreed that we are optimistic about this opportunity," McMaster told reporters after the closed-door meeting at the US mission to the United Nations. "But we are determined to keep up the campaign of maximum pressure until we see words match with deeds, and real progress toward denuclearization." Trump agreed last week to a first face-to-face meeting with Kim, which could take place by the end of May, raising hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough after the two leaders spent months hurling insults and threats at each other. During the meeting with the ambassadors, McMaster pointed to three UN sanctions resolutions adopted by the council as key in the campaign to bring North Korea to the negotiating table, according to a council diplomat. McMaster said the council had shown "unity and resolve that has us now at the point where we may be able to pursue a diplomatic solution on the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." The Security Council has imposed tough economic sanctions aimed at choking off revenue to Pyongyang's military programs after Kim's regime carried out a sixth nuclear test and a series of advanced missile launches. The sanctions resolutions were unanimously adopted following negotiations with China, Pyongyang's ally. US Ambassador Nikki Haley singled out China for praise, saying Beijing had been "very helpful" in the push for sanctions, and also cited South Korea and Japan. The sanctions resolutions ban North Korean exports of commodities and severely restricted shipments of oil and fuel to the isolated state. Dutch Ambassador Karel van Oosterom, who chairs the council's North Korea sanctions committee, told reporters "we have to continue implementing the sanctions as they stand." A council diplomat said the US appeal to keep up sanctions pressure showed that Washington remained skeptical about prospects for a deal with Pyongyang on scrapping its nuclear program. McMaster said the Trump administration wanted to move quickly because of concerns that Pyongyang was steadily progressing toward major advancements in its military programs, said the diplomat, who asked not to be named. The national security adviser also met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Chinese leader calls for 'smooth' Kim-Trump talks Beijing (AFP) March 13, 2018 - Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes "smooth" talks between North Korea's leader and the presidents of the United States and South Korea can produce progress towards Pyongyang's denuclearisation, according to state media. Xi made the remarks during a meeting Monday with South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, who was in Beijing to brief Chinese leaders about his meetings with Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump last week. Kim has agreed to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the Demilitarized Zone in late April, while Trump and the North Korean leader could meet by the end of May. "We expect a smooth DPRK-ROK summit and DPRK-US dialogue," Xi said, using the acronyms for North Korea and South Korea, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Xi voiced hope that the talks will lead to "substantial progress" in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and toward the normalisation of relations between the countries involved. The peninsula faces "an important opportunity for easing tension" and called on all sides to be "patient and cautious", the Chinese leader said. Xi said China is willing to work with the international community to promote Beijing's "dual-track approach" along with "helpful proposals from all sides". China has called for a "dual-track" of committing to denuclearisation while establishing a peace mechanism. It has also proposed a "suspension-for-suspension" plan in which the United States, South Korea and Japan freeze military drills in return for North Korea halting its nuclear and missile tests. "As long as all parties can focus on the fundamental goal of denuclearisation, peace and stability, the Korean peninsula will finally usher in the spring, when ice will thaw and flowers will bloom," Xi said. For his part, Chung thanked Xi for his "big role" in the diplomatic process that led to the "very positive changes". Beijing has played a key role in implementing UN sanctions on the North, which are believed to have put immense pressure on the country's fragile economy. China is North Korea's only diplomatic ally and its most important trade partner. Still, some in China are afraid the country, which hosted failed six-nation talks on the nuclear issue a decade ago, could be cut out of negotiations on denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
Rational yet unpredictable: North Korea's Kim an enigma for US Washington (AFP) March 10, 2018 Kim Jong Un has been accused of executing generals, murdering relatives, presiding over global criminal operations and has threatened the United States with nuclear armageddon. But a string of surprising diplomatic openings - including Thursday's stunning offer to meet US President Donald Trump - has only deepened the enigma surrounding the North Korean leader. At a lengthy dinner he hosted for South Korean officials on Monday, the man once dismissed by the West as irrational and paranoid pre ... read more
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