Unification advisory vice chief expects US-NK talks around US midterms
Kang Chang-il, senior vice chair of a presidential advisory on unification policy, said he expected talks between North Korea and the United States will resume in the second half of this year, around the U.S. midterm elections in November. “North Korea and the U.S. will likely hold talks around the Trump administration’s midterm elections, potentially late this year or early next year,” Kang, senior vice chair of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), said Wednesday at his first press conference since taking office on April 17. The PUAC is a presidential advisory body mandated by the Constitution to promote peaceful unification through policy consultation, consensus building and international outreach. President Lee Jae Myung serves as an ex officio chairperson of the body. Kang, a veteran four-term lawmaker who previously served as ambassador to Japan, added that “Washington had no room to maneuver due to the war with Iran ... Once the U.S.-Israel war with Iran ends, the North Korea issue will take center stage as the last major unresolved global conflict. The focus