File photo: South Korea's President Moon Jae-in
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday that North Korea's criticism of the United States after a meeting in Pyongyang was part of its negotiating strategy and the talks between the two are on the "right track".
Moon made the remarks during talks with the Singaporean president and prime minister in the city state, his office said.
North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of making "gangster-like" demands in talks on denuclearisation, contradicting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said the old enemies had made progress on key issues.
President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that China might be seeking to derail U.S. efforts aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, but said he was confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would uphold a pact the two agreed last month.In his first remarks about challenging diplomatic talks held at the weekend that sowed fresh doubts over North Korea's willingness to give up its nuclear arsenal, Trump said China "may be exerting negative pressure" in reaction to punitive U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported progress from the first high-level talks since Trump and Kim met in Singapore, although he said a hard road lies ahead - North Korea accused him of "gangster-like" diplomacy after he left Pyongyang.Following the June 12 Trump-Kim summit in which Kim made a broad agreement to "work toward denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, Trump went on to say that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat, even though no details were announced.China says its position on North Korean issue is consistentPompeo went to Pyongyang aiming to "fill in" details of the agreement. On Monday, he said there were "many hours" of negotiations left."Now is the time for all of us, the State Department and others to deliver, to implement the agreement between President Trump and Chairman Kim," Pompeo told NATO troops at the end of a visit to Afghanistan."To think this would happen in the course of a handful of hours would have been ludicrous," Pompeo said.The post-summit statements did not say how or when the reclusive state would dismantle its nuclear missile program that is believed to be capable of hitting the United States.North Korea welcomes UN aid officialLeaked U.S. intelligence findings have concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear program completely.A Twitter post by Trump in which he suggested that China might be spoiling North Korea talks was another twist in his rollercoaster approach to Beijing, a mix of praise and criticism, diplomatic outreach and outright aggression."I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea," Trump said. "China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!"In Beijing on Tuesday, when asked about Trump's comments, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "First, China's position on the Korean peninsula issue is consistent. Second, China's attitude on the China-U.S. trade issue is clear. Third, China is a trustworthy and responsible power."She did not elaborate.The administration worked for months to win China's support for its "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions to isolate North Korea, which does most of its international trade with the Chinese.While trying to keep the Chinese on board for North Korea negotiations, Trump took a tough stance on trade with China, slapping tariffs last week on $34 billion in Chinese exports to the United States, prompting retaliation in kind from Beijing.Pompeo has been criticized by some U.S. media and some Washington foreign policy observers for the lack of results and acrimony from Pyongyang, but two former U.S. officials who have negotiated with North Korea cast his talks in a more positive light."Pompeo’s visit I think was a useful beginning to set out parameters and to start working on the details of a deal," said Joel Wit, founder of the 38 North research institute. "The North Koreans talked about a vague, step-by-step simultaneous approach, which seems to me the right way to move forward. That’s the only thing that’s going to work."Retired Ambassador Robert Gallucci also called, however, for the appointment of a senior special negotiator. He said Trump should not have asserted that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat, a claim that is "really flat-out misleading.""It leads to expectations that anybody who is serious and watching this process would say you shouldn't have those expectations," Gallucci said.
Trump suggests China might be interfering in US-North Korea talks
A South Korean government spokesman insisted Wednesday that a dozen North Korean restaurant employees who defected to the South in 2016 did so "of their own free will".The case drew global attention at the time because North Korea accused Seoul of abducting the group, who are known to have left their posting in China in April 2016.South Korea has officially welcomed thousands of defectors seeking to escape Pyongyang's authoritarian regime, but the restaurant staff were supposedly loyal citizens who had been allowed to work overseas.UN aid chief says 'clear evidence of humanitarian need' in North Korea"I understand that the workers came to the South of their own free will," Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters according to Yonhap News Agency. "I have nothing more to say about that."A day earlier, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea asked for an independent investigation, having spoken to some of the defectors in question."It is clear that there were some shortcomings in regards to how they were brought to South Korea," Tomas Ojea Quintana was quoted as saying by Yonhap."From the information I received from some of them, they were taken to [South Korea] without knowing they were coming here," he added.Moreover, the defectors' former restaurant manager implicated Seoul's intelligence agency when he told a local broadcaster in May that he had deceived his staff members when bringing them to the South.South Korean prosecutors are looking into the case, which has been shrouded in secrecy to protect the identities of the defectors, given that North Korea has regularly been accused of persecuting the relatives of citizens who willingly escape the country.
Seoul denies forcing North Koreans to defect