North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 (Mars-12) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 15, 2017.
Wall Street Journal: U.S.-North Korea Stalemate Threatens Nuclear Disarmament Deal
With no clear timeline established, each side blames the other for foot-dragging on their commitments
SEOUL—Nearly three months after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shook hands with President Trump and agreed to pursue denuclearization and a reset in relations, the two sides have reached an impasse over who should make the next concession in talks aimed at implementing their accord.
The standoff threatens to derail a delicate detente with Pyongyang, following weeks of negotiations in which both sides say they have given ground but which so far haven’t produced a clear agreement on disarmament steps or moves toward a peace treaty.
Mr. Trump expressed frustration with the deadlocked peace process in a series of Twitter posts last week in which he lashed out at China and raised the prospect of resuming joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea and Japan that would be “far bigger than ever before.”
Pyongyang says the U.S. needs to reciprocate North Korea’s gestures—among them, the dismantling of its underground nuclear test site and the return of U.S. war remains—with a statement declaring an official end to the Korean War.
U.S. diplomats, meantime, have repeatedly asserted that “the ball is in North Korea’s court” to make more concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear program, following the suspension of U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and the summit meeting in Singapore.
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WNU Editor: Just a reminder to everyone. It was exactly one year ago that North Korea tested a hydrogen bomb .... 2017 North Korean nuclear test (Wikipedia).
