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 by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) April 22, 2018
President Donald Trump asserted Sunday that North Korea has agreed to "denuclearization" and a halt to testing while the United States had so far conceded "nothing" in return. North Korea pledged this week to halt nuclear and missile tests as the two countries prepare for a summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump, but has not committed to giving up its nuclear weapons -- which Pyongyang views as a shield against the Western overthrow of its government. "We haven't given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!" Trump wrote on Twitter, apparently responding to remarks made by an NBC news host. "We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won't - only time will tell....But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!" Kim said Saturday that his country would halt testing and close a nuclear test site, which Trump hailed as "big progress." But observers warn those concessions could be easily reversed if Kim decides to do so. Some experts meanwhile view the planned summit itself -- and the legitimacy a meeting with a sitting US president confers on Kim and his government -- as a win for Pyongyang. "This is a great public relations effort by Kim Jong Un and I think people recognize that. I think everyone within the administration and Congress approaches this with skepticism and caution," Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on CNN's State of the Union. "You can easily reverse that and all of us know that," said the senator, noting that Kim has begun "the meetings in a way that almost put the United States on the defensive."
S. Korea halts border broadcasts ahead of Kim summit The South has long broadcast a mix of news, music and propaganda messages urging the North's soldiers to defect through huge speakers along the heavily-fortified border, with operations varying depending on the swings of volatile inter-Korea ties. The North plays propaganda of its own. Relations have improved markedly in recent months, with the North announcing at the weekend that it would not conduct any more nuclear tests or long-range missile launches. The latest developments come ahead of a summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in on Friday, and with Kim expected to meet US President Donald Trump later. "We stopped loudspeaker broadcasts... as of today in order to ease military tension and to create a peaceful climate... ahead of the 2018 inter-Korea summit," Seoul's defence ministry said in a statement. The two neighbours remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty, with tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the mine-infested land border. Friday's meeting, to be held on the southern side of the border truce village of Panmunjom, is only the third summit ever between the two Koreas after encounters in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007. All eyes are on whether Kim will promise any concrete steps towards dismantling the North's nuclear arsenal. The young leader, believed to be in his mid-30s, has overseen four of the country's six nuclear tests and Pyongyang hails its weapons as a "treasured sword" protecting the country from potential US invasion. Kim has also overseen dozens of missile tests, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US mainland.
Trump's dealmaking key to N. Korea talks: US envoy Geneva (AFP) April 19, 2018 Taks between the US and North Korean leaders will strive for "concrete" steps towards denuclearisation and President Donald Trump's dealmaking "abilities" will be crucial, Washington's disarmament ambassador said Thursday. "We do not want to go through (the) traditional process that happened over the years where you get this gradual kind of approach that the North eventually goes back on," the US envoy to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, Robert Wood, told reporters. "That is why w ... read more
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