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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks at a men's shoe during a recent visit to Taesong Department Store, which is to reopen after renovation, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Monday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un |
Last month, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui hinted that the regime's leadership would soon make public its "crucial decision" on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Officials from the United States and South Korea view the upcoming session of the regime's top legislative body ― the Supreme People's Assembly ― as a critical moment for the North to announce its upcoming nuclear strategies.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the U.S. would pay close attention to any possible remarks from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the first session of the 14th Assembly in Pyongyang.
"It is a big day," Pompeo said. "It's something that's an annual event where the leader of North Korea speaks to his people. We'll watch very closely what he says."
The upcoming session will come amid stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang after the failure of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in February.
With negotiations deadlocked, the regime may announce that it will stop holding peace talks with the U.S. and threaten to resume its nuclear armament.
Washington and Pyongyang have also failed to narrow their differences in post-Hanoi summit nuclear negotiations. The U.S. wants the North to achieve complete denuclearization first by signing a "one-shot" major agreement, but the North wants to take phased steps for nuclear disarmament.
Even if Trump has repeatedly stressed that his relationship with Kim Jong-un remains in good shape, the North is showing little signs of resuming talks with the U.S.
Despite Trump's reconciliatory gesture, Washington says it will continue its tough sanctions on the North unless it agrees to complete and verifiable denuclearization.
With neither side showing any signs of compromise, it is possible that the regime may announce during the upcoming session that it will take a "new and independent path" by discontinuing talks with the U.S.
Earlier this year, Kim threatened to take the "new path" unless the U.S. stopped imposing what the regime calls "unilateral" sanctions and pressure against the North.
The Hanoi summit was expected to help Washington and Pyongyang break the months-long stalemate in denuclearization talks. But with the much-anticipated meeting ending in failure, there are no signs of progress in denuclearizing the peninsula.
Moon-Trump summit
After the North's parliamentary meeting ends, South Korean President Moon Jae-in plans to hold a summit with Trump on Thursday (Washington, D.C. time).
Moon is likely to try to persuade Trump to sign a "good enough deal" with the North, rather than sticking to the "all-or-nothing" approach for denuclearizing the peninsula.
The "good enough deal" means Washington and Pyongyang need to continue signing agreements if they think the previous agreement was satisfactory.
Both leaders will also discuss countermeasures for the North's possible announcement at the upcoming session.
