강경화 "美, 체제보장•제재해제에 열린자세로 협상할 것"... '스냅백' 고려되나
South Korea's foreign minister says the U.S. is ready to openly negotiate possible sanctions relief and security guarantees for North Korea... in their working-level talks.
She added that the two sides' top priority is to agree on a roadmap to denuclearization.
Our Oh Jung-hee tells us more.
With the presidents of South Korea and the U.S. set to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Seoul's top diplomat says... the most important agenda is finding ways to resume nuclear talks between Pyeongyang and Washington.
At a press briefing in New York on Sunday, foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters... that Seoul and Washington are analyzing the North's recent statements,... to see what the North wants from the U.S. in return for taking denuclearization steps.
Pyeongyang has hinted that it wants a security guarantee and sanctions relief,... both of which, Kang says, the U.S. is willing to negotiate openly.
She added... the most important task is to agree on a roadmap on how to achieve denuclearization.
The U.S. has recently signaled to North Korea that it's willing to be flexible.
President Trump himself brought up the idea of adopting a 'new method' in negotiating with the North... with former National Security Advisor John Bolton who promoted the Libyan model,... now having been removed from his post.
Watchers say that the U.S. could be considering snapback measures.
That is, once the two sides agree on a comprehensive deal that clearly defines the end-state of denuclearization,... the U.S. could partially lift sanctions, which could be immediately re-imposed if Pyeongang doesn't follow through on its pledges.
However, whether the North would be willing to accept the snapback deal is yet to be seen... because the North is leaning more towards a phased agreement instead of a comprehensive deal.
North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations are expected to resume later this month in Europe or Southeast Asia.
The delegations are to be led by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and North Korea's new nuclear envoy, Kim Myong-gil.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
#U.S. #negotiate #NorthKorea
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