North Korea issued new statements on Thursday, condemning the US State
Department in general and Mike Pompeo in particular for “slandering”
North Korea in reports. They warned they don’t foresee improvement in talks while US policy-makers remain so antagonistic.
Perhaps even more concerning, North Korea issued a statement calling for South Korea to stop trying to mediate any talks between North Korea and the US, saying they should mind their own business.
South Korea has long played a major role facilitating US-North Korea
talks, and has generally tried to calm US rhetoric. North Korea calling
on them to stay out of the process suggests either that there is some
direct track that is making progress, or more worryingly, that they
don’t see the point in South Korea trying to get the US back to the
table after the Hanoi summit failed.
Direct talks between North and South Korea have gone quite well over the
past year and a half. The ability of the two Koreas to go any further
is limited, so long as the US keeps opposing further progress.
North Korea Tells South Korea to Stop Trying to Mediate Between Them and US
Officials slam Pompeo, recent State Department reports
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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