The U.S.-South Korean alliance is strained by their differences over military pacts, and if the allies fail to reach agreements, Seoul’s national security could be at risk, experts said.
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The White House said Sunday it does not “have any illusions” about whether North Korea is preparing to resume missile testing, but refused to assess commercial satellite imagery suggesting Pyongyang is assembling a new rocket. National security adviser John Bolton told ABC News the U.S. watches North Korea “constantly,” but added, “I’m not going to speculate on what that commercial satellite imagery shows.” The Feb. 22 imagery seems to show new North Korean missile activity at an assembly operation, but Bolton said the U.S.”relies on its own” satellite surveillance and draws its conclusions from those images. “We see exactly what they’re doing,” he said. “We look every day at the intelligence. I don’t want to get into speculation as to what they’re doing.” After last month’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, U.S. President Donald Trump said he trusted Kim’s pledge to him that he would not resume nuclear or missile testing. Bolton said that Trump “is confident in his relations with Kim Jong Un.” Asked about the commercial satellite images on Friday, Trump said he would be “very disappointed” if North Korea resumed nuclear testing. He said he has greatly improved U.S. relations with North…
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged North Korea on Sunday to replicate Vietnam in forging a new relationship with the United States, much like Hanoi has done five decades after the Vietnam War against the U.S. ended. The top U.S. diplomat, visiting the Vietnamese capital after two days of talks in Pyongyang aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, said 23 years of normalized U.S. relations with Vietnam should be proof to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the U.S. can create new ties with former foes. “We know it is a real possibility because we see how Vietnam has traveled this remarkable path,” Pompeo said. Pompeo downplayed North Korea’s accusation that the U.S. had made “gangster-like” demands that it abandon its nuclear program and that their talks were “regrettable.” “If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster,” Pompeo said, as he noted that the U.N. Security Council has demanded numerous times that the North dispose of its nuclear weapons and end its ballistic missile program. He said the fact that the U.S. is “cooperating— and not fighting” with Vietnam “is proof that when a country decides to create a brighter future for itself alongside…
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In a new twist to the ‘will they or won’t they’ saga of President Trump’s summit with North Korea–originally planned for next month–the Commander-in-Chief tweeted Sunday afternoon that a US team arrived in North Korea to plan for a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2018 Although President Trump sent a letter calling off the talks Thursday, he kept the option to go ahead with the Signapore talks on the table. “We can be successful in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, that would be a great thing for North Korea, it would be a great thing for South Korea, it would be great for Japan, it would be great for the world, it would be great for the United States, it would be great for China. A lot of people are working on it. It’s moving along very nicely,” Trump said. Shortly…
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. would know by next week whether he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore as scheduled. “It could very well be June 12th,” Trump said.”If we go, it’ll be a great thing for North Korea.” Trump had earlier said that if the June 12 date did not work out, the summit could be held later. North Korea has hinted it may call off the summit because of U.S. demands that it unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that he was “very hopeful” there would be talks, but said that whether they happened would be”ultimately up to Chairman Kim.” Pompeo, who has already met with Kim twice, told the lawmakers the U.S. position had not changed and there would be no easing of sanctions on North Korea “until we see credible steps taken toward the complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” He said the U.S. would not hesitate to walk away from the talks if a bad deal was on the table. But visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters at…
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North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un announced Friday that he no longer wants to test nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, reported South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency. The statement would mark a major concession as the young leader prepares for his country’s first direct meeting with a sitting U.S. president, reportedly set to take place late next month or in early June. The announcement came via state media, which said a total freeze for nuclear tests would come into effect immediately local time.
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By Robert Romano In “The Art of the Deal,” President Donald Trump wrote: “Leverage: don’t make deals without it.” Three developments in the past week prove that President Trump’s approach to foreign affairs where he utilizes all the tools in his arsenal including tariffs, sanctions, and overall pressure — are yielding dividends in the Asia Pacific region because they exerted significant leverage by the U.S. South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to new amendments to the U.S.-South Korean trade agreement, where South Korea agreed to reduce its steel export quota by 30 percent and to double the amount of American-made cars that are imported. In exchange, the U.S. will grant South Korea an exemption to President Trump’s 25 percent tariff on steel imports. Senior administration officials have also hinted that a new currency agreement is in the works that would address exchange rate and Treasury markets manipulation. These were all things Trump had spoken of last June when South Korean President Moon Jae-In visited the White House. Now they’re actually being delivered. All because of Trump’s tough stance on trade, including the tariffs but also his call for trade to be fair and reciprocal. The discussions were ongoing, South Korea was…
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has agreed to stop nuclear and missile tests if his country holds talks with the United States on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. The breakthrough was announced Tuesday by Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s presidential national security director, after a rare visit to Pyongyang.
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The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions Wednesday aimed at halting North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs. The Department of Treasury placed sanctions on nine entities, including two China-based trading firms that helped export millions of dollars’ worth of metals and other materials used in Pyongyang’s defense sector.
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Tensions were on the rise Sunday ahead of the largest ever US-South Korea air exercise, with Pyongyang calling it an “all-out provocation” that could lead to nuclear conflict as a US lawmaker warned of a growing likelihood of “preemptive war” on the divided peninsula. The five-day Vigilant Ace drill — involving some 230 aircraft including F-22…
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North Korea’s nuclear antics have rattled its alliance with China to the point that Beijing is allowing the previously unthinkable to be discussed: Is it time to prepare for the renegade regime’s collapse? While China’s official goal is to bring Washington and Pyongyang to the negotiating table, it is also permitting once taboo debate on contingencies…
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