Director of Kajianis National Interest Research Institute Cites White House Official
White House Considers Exchange of North Korea Nuclear Facility Dismantlement, Nuclear and Missile Moratorium for Tailored Sanctions Relief Package
"If Successful, 3rd North Korea-US Summit in Bangkok in October"
North Korea's Response Uncertain Amid Trump Reelection Uncertainty
North Already Rejected Multilateral Talks Proposal Based on Six-Party Talks
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Harry Kazianis, Director for Korea at the conservative U.S. think tank Center for the National Interest, revealed on the 16th (local time) through the American magazine 'The American Conservative' that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to find a breakthrough in North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks before the November presidential election, and the White House is reviewing new proposals to North Korea for this purpose.
He cited two White House sources, introducing that the White House is currently considering the idea of offering a tailored sanctions relief package in exchange for a package deal that includes North Korea dismantling one or more key nuclear production facilities and officially declaring a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests.
Kazianis said that President Trump's team is developing a bilateral summit idea that will achieve clear results for both North Korea and the U.S., not a photo-op summit that has been criticized, and that discussions are still ongoing about what to offer North Korea.
A White House official said, "We are willing to exchange concessions for concessions and put many new things on the table, taking some risks that were not taken in the past," adding, "We need to know what North Korea wants. We want to make this work," Kazianis reported.
Kazianis introduced that the White House, together with the State Department and intelligence officials, conveyed an idea to North Korea this spring to bring it to the negotiating table and revive a multilateral framework to prevent the resumption of long-range missile test launches, but North Korea did not respond. This was based on the Six-Party Talks concept and included North Korea's allies Russia and China, as well as Japan and "at least one other partner," Kazianis explained.
He said that if North Korea-U.S. negotiations are concluded, there is hope to hold a third North Korea-U.S. summit this fall, to be signed in an Asian capital within train or flight distance for North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un. Kazianis had previously predicted that the third North Korea-U.S. summit would be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in October.
However, Kazianis also reported that the White House mentioned it is uncertain whether Chairman Kim would respond to such ideas given the unclear prospects of President Trump's reelection.
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