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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the North Korean side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in Panmunjom on June 30. (Kim Jung-hyo, staff photographer)
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NY Times reports Washington has modified its goal from denuclearization to nuclear freeze
On July 1, US President Donald Trump voiced his expectations for his next summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, remarking that he hopes to meet Kim again before long. At the same time, Trump reiterated that there’s “no rush.” “It was great being with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this weekend. We had a great meeting, he looked really well and very healthy,” Trump tweeted on July 1, one day after returning to Washington, DC, following his meeting with Kim in Panmunjom. “I look forward to seeing him again soon,” Trump said. Trump continued his message in a subsequent tweet. “In the meantime, our teams will be meeting to work on some solutions to very long term and persistent problems. No rush, but I am sure we will ultimately get there!” Trump’s remarks can be seen as offering North Korea the incentive of another summit while repeating Trump’s viewpoint that before that summit can take place, both sides must find common ground by holding sufficient working-level talks about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the improvement of bilateral relations. While speaking to reporters following his meeting with Kim on June 30, Trump said that hurrying always leads to failure and that he’s more interested in conducting the negotiations properly than quickly. Trump’s reference to Kim looking “healthy” appears to be a rebuttal of certain US media speculations that Kim is dealing with health issues. In several other tweets, Trump personally plugged his success in the Panmunjom summit. “While [in South Korea], it was great to call on Chairman Kim of North Korea to have our very well covered meeting. Good things can happen for all!” Trump said on Monday. Trump also thanked Harry Kazianis from the Center for the National Interest for his upbeat assessment of Trump’s North Korea policy, quoting Kazianis as saying, “the President has done more good on the Korean issue in the last year and a half than President Obama did in eight years.” In a related story, the New York Times reported on June 30 that the US government is considering a new scenario that’s focused on a nuclear freeze in North Korea. According to the newspaper, this scenario posits tacitly recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power, which would moderate the current goal of the North’s complete denuclearization. When contacted, the US State Department denied the report’s claims, stating that Washington’s current goal remains North Korea’s final and fully verified denuclearization (FFVD) and that the government isn’t working on any new proposal at the current time. US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun also dismissed the claims, which he described as mere conjecture. But with the US asking North Korea for a denuclearization roadmap that would lead to the ultimate dismantlement of its nuclear program, a nuclear freeze is an essential step that would mark the first leg of that journey. By suggesting in its report that the US government is downgrading its objective to a nuclear freeze, the New York Times appears to have been trying to spark a controversy that the Trump administration is yielding to North Korea. By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
