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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader at Heaven Lake (Cheonji) on top of Mt. Baekdu during the former’s visit to North Korea on Sept. 20. (photo pool)
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US president also says high-level talks will be rescheduled because of “trips that are being made”
On Nov. 7, US President Donald Trump reconfirmed that he would be holding another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the beginning of 2019. Trump also said that the high-level talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and director of the WPK United Front Department, which had been abruptly canceled one day before they were supposed to take place on Nov. 8, would be rescheduled. When Trump was asked by a reporter during a press conference at the White House the day after the midterm elections on Nov. 6 about the timing of his second summit with Kim, Trump said, “sometime early next year.” In regard to the plan for the high-level North Korea-US talks in New York scheduled for Nov. 8, whose cancelation had been announced by the US State Department on midnight, Trump said, “We’re going to change [the schedule of the high-level talks] because of trips that are being made. We’re going to make it at another date.” Trump went on to say that “that meeting is going to be rescheduled.” At midnight on Nov. 7, the US State Department announced that the high-level talks scheduled for Nov. 8 “will now take place at a later date. We will reconvene when our respective schedules permit.” According to one source, North Korea had pushed hard for Kim Yong-chol to have a meeting with Trump in order to reach a solution on the sanctions issue. When the North still found itself without a definite answer from the US on Nov. 7, the source said, it finally asked for the meeting to be delayed. Trump is reportedly planning to depart for France on Nov. 9 to attend an event on Nov. 11 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Trump’s statement that he will reschedule the high-level talks with the North Koreans and hold a second summit with Kim at the beginning of next year is being taken as confirmation that he hopes to preserve momentum in North Korea-US talks. US in a “pretty good place” with North Korea, says State Depart. Deputy spokesperson When US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino was asked during the regular briefing on Nov. 7 why the delay of the high-level North Korea-US talks was announced in the middle of the night, he said, “as soon as the information that we had was confirmed, we decided to release it as early as possible.” Palladino also fielded a question about why the meeting was delayed. “Schedules change all the time,” he said. “We’re dealing with purely a scheduling issue.” Palladino added that the US is “in a pretty good place” with North Korea. During his press conference, Trump once again emphasized that there’s “no rush” on the North Korea issue because “the sanctions are on.” “The sanctions are on. The missiles have stopped. The rockets have stopped. The hostages are home. The great heroes [remains of American soldiers] have been coming home,” Trump said. “But I’m in no rush.” “Now, I’d love to take the sanctions off. But they have to be responsive, too. It’s a two-way street,” Trump said. He repeated the phrase “the sanctions are on” seven times and the phrase “no rush” four times in the press conference. By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
