20 Steps in the Right Direction
Scott Ritter
20 Steps in the Right Direction
Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of
Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone. (Susan Walsh / AP)
On Thursday, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen
Biegun, will meet in Berlin with Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special
representative on peace and security, and other representatives from the
European Union to "advance our shared efforts to achieve the final, fully
verified denuclearization of North Korea" according to a State Department
press release.
The Berlin meeting, which will occur in advance of the anticipated
resumption of direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea later this
month, represents an important preliminary step forward in rebuilding
consensus on denuclearization. It follows the collapse of a round of talks
in Hanoi during the February 2019 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump
and North Korean Premier Kim Jong Un.
The Hanoi talks faltered over North Korean objections to the U.S.'s hardline
position regarding the pace of denuclearization, and the U.S.'s refusal to
consider easing sanctions linked to North Korea's nuclear program prior to
the complete, verified elimination of the North's nuclear weapons program.
North Korea accused the U.S. of negotiating in bad faith and put President
Trump on notice that it would no longer work with Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo or national security adviser John Bolton. Moreover, it gave the U.S.
until the end of the year to resolve the composition of its negotiating team
and the substance of its negotiating position.
On June 30, President Trump conducted an impromptu meeting with Kim Jong Un
along the border between North and South Korea, greeting him with a smile
and a handshake before crossing over to the North Korean side-a symbolic
first by a sitting U.S. president. He and Kim then retired to a building
inside the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea for a 50-minute
private talk. While the substance of their talk remains unknown, President
Trump hinted at its gist in a press conference afterward, where he appointed
Biegun as the new U.S. chief negotiator for denuclearization talks, thereby
acceding to the demands of North Korea regarding Pompeo and Bolton.
Even more interesting were leaks from the White House that the U.S. might
accept a "freeze" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program as a preliminary
step toward denuclearization, and that there could be a gradual easing of
economic sanct
