US-NK stalemate likely to continue

By Lee Min-hyung

U.S. President Donald Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

The current stalemate between the United States and North Korea in their denuclearization talks shows no signs of abating, as both sides continue to engage in a war of nerves.

The outlook for their dialogue is apparently darkening since the U.S. slapped heightened human rights sanctions on the North last week. This also bodes ill for their negotiations over the proposed second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korea criticized the move, saying it “may put a permanent end” to the regime's denuclearization.

“It is a big misjudgment for Washington to believe that the intensified pressure can make Pyongyang scrap nuclear weapons,” the North's state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement Sunday.

This is in response to the recent decision by the U.S. Treasury Department which imposed human rights sanctions on three ranking North Korean officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, the regime's de facto No. 2 figure and vice chairman of its ruling Workers' Party.

“The U.S. should realize the maximum pressure strategy does not work on the North anymore, and remain sincere in fulfilling the joint agreement signed during the Washington-Pyongyang summit in June,” the statement said.

Washington-Pyongyang relations looked rosy after the historic summit when Trump and Kim reached a consensus for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

But they have since failed to make progress in narrowing their differences on detailed roadmaps and timelines for the North's denuclearization.

Despite the North Korea rhetoric, U.S. media quoted the U.S. Department of State as saying Washington remains confident the promise made by the two leaders during the Singapore summit will be fulfilled in the end.

Even if both sides are in a stalemate over preparations for the second summit, they are expected to meet with each other sometime in the near future to seek a breakthrough in their ongoing deadlock.

The recent conflict over the human rights issue is widely seen as part of a war of nerves to make fewer concessions to each other during their possible upcoming summit.

Even if the North releases such provocative statements after the Trump-Kim summit, the U.S. leader has maintained his posture on Kim Jong-un, showing “unwavering trust” in him.

He has also continued saying the second Washington-Pyongyang summit will take place in the near future possibly in January or February.

Critics here argue the summit may take place before a possible inter-Korean summit in Seoul. The fourth summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un was supposed to take place this year in Seoul. The two leaders agreed on the schedule during their last meeting in Pyongyang in September.

The view comes as Kim Jong-un apparently believes there is more harm than good if he meets with President Moon at a time when the Washington-Pyongyang denuclearization talks show no progress.

There remains a faint hope over Kim Jong-un's possible Seoul visit this year as agreed upon during the third inter-Korean summit this year. But the North has yet to offer to arrange a schedule for the meeting, according to Cheong Wa Dae.