US demanded North Korea to rejoin NPT: sources
Children raise national flags of North Korea and Vietnam at the Vietnam-Korea Friendship Kindergarten in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 26. They hope to show off their singing and dancing to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the North Korean leader's stay in the Southeast Asian country. The kindergarten was founded in 1978 with financial assistance from North Korea. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul
HANOI — The United States has demanded North Korea rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) as one of the key conditions assist in verifying the “phased dismantling” of its nuclear program, two diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
“A sort of end-of-war declaration is very likely as it would be political symbolism. The confrontation seems to be over, and North Korea has been asked to rejoin the NPT,” one source said on condition of anonymity.
North Korea left the treaty in 2003 after breaking its commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons. Re-entry to the NPT will restore the North’s full cooperation required in inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the top United Nations nuclear watchdog.
Real progress in nuclear disarmament talks would be signaled in visible deliverables from the summit, the “core debate point,” the source said.
“Nuclear negotiators from each side are focusing more on how to actually negotiate the freezing, inspection, dismantlement and then removal of the North’s nuclear weapons by taking a phased approach,” according to the source.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves upon his arrival at the border town with China in Dong Dang, Vietnam, Feb. 26. Reuters-Yonhap
It’s believed that both U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un don’t have particularly high hopes for the outcome of their second meeting, as denuclearization is a process that will unfold over a long period of time.
“Any comprehensive agreement or declaration of a few undeclared nuclear facilities and disclosure by IAEA-led inspections of some uranium and plutonium enrichment pathway facilities which were previously undisclosed would be meaningful,” he said.
North Korea is known to have asked the United States to be regarded as a “de facto nuclear state” and recognized as a sovereign country, another source said.
While Kim is apparently looking to get economic sanctions removed, an announcement for an end to sanctions and a significant withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea is “highly unlikely,” they said.
The United States is trying to push forward a process that links peace to the denuclearization process.
The sources said because North Korea can’t give away its nuclear capability cheaply, it demanded the United States find ways to partially ease the ongoing sanctions. These include various inter-Korean economic engagement projects including the reopening of a joint industrial park and a tourist resort that once brought in $200 million in cash every year.
Political analysts say the partial sanctions relief may come in return for the North’s acceptance of prerequisites presented by the United States.