Ex-CIA official lays out road map for North Korea's complete denuclearization
Andrew Kim, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency's Korea Mission Center, gives a lecture at Stanford University, Friday (local time). Yonhap
A former U.S. intelligence official with vast experience dealing with North Korea presented a road map for achieving the U.S. goal of final, fully verified denuclearization (FFVD) of the North, Friday (local time).
Andrew Kim, who retired as head of the Central Intelligence Agency's Korea Mission Center in December, said Washington's vision for FFVD starts with the continued suspension of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests.
The next step, he said in a lecture at Stanford University, was the inspection of North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities by international experts.
"Pyongyang must declare its facilities," he continued. "The North must completely dismantle and remove nuclear weapons delivery system facilities and associated materials from the Korean Peninsula on an agreed timeline. The North must provide a comprehensive declaration of its nuclear, ballistic missile, chemical and biological programs."
Kim's speech came days before U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, to flesh out an agreement they reached in June to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
In return for the North abandoning its nuclear programs, Trump promised security guarantees from the U.S. and committed to build new relations between the countries, as well as lasting peace on the peninsula.
"At the end they need to rejoin the NPT for verification and confirmation as part of the process," the former CIA official said, referring to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Pyongyang withdrew from in 2003.
North Korea, for its part, seeks the removal of all United Nations sanctions on the regime, according to Kim, who was a key member of the U.S. team handling preparations for the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June.
It also wants the resumption of inter-Korean projects, such as the industrial complex in North Korea's Gaeseong and tours to its scenic Mount Geumgang, he said.
North Korea is also after a declaration to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.
"The North wants to be recognized as a nuclear state," Kim elaborated. "The North wants to improve its relations with the U.S. toward eventually establishing a diplomatic relationship. North Korea wants to put in place a long-lasting peace mechanism ... that assures the continued rule of the Kim family." (Yonhap)