Prospects for resolving North Korean issue remain vague

July 22, 2020 - PRLog -- The DPRK is currently not ready for nuclear disarmament, but this does not mean that the country's leadership will not take such a step in the future, said the first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Kim Yo-jong in her statement released on July 10.

"We would like to make it clear that it does not necessarily mean the denuclearization is not possible. But what we mean is that it is not possible at this point of time," the official Korean Central News Agency quotes Kim Jong-un's younger sister.

According to her, the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula can be realized only when there are irreversible simultaneous major changes made by the US in parallel with North Korea; however at the moment Pyongyang is not interested in meeting the Americans.

"What is clear, though, is that if the DPRK–US summit is needed as someone says it would be needed only by the US side, but the DPRK should consider such an event unpractical as it does not serve us at all," she said stressing that the need for a meeting will appear only if "the US shows decisive change in its stand."

Meanwhile, Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton suggested that Donald Trump could meet again with Kim Jong-un shortly before the US presidential election scheduled for November 2020.

"I think the 'October surprise' is quite possible. And the possibility of a fourth meeting with Kim Jong-un exactly fits the criteria for the 'October surprise'," John Bolton said in an interview with Japanese business newspaper Nikkei, published July 16.

In turn, First Deputy Secretary of State and US Special Representative for the DPRK Stephen Biegun said earlier that the United States will continue efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the nuclear missile problem on the Korean Peninsula.

He noted that the US supports inter-Korean cooperation, considering it an important component for establishing stability in the region.

"We look forward to fully supporting the government of the Republic of Korea," the American diplomat stressed.

Another aggravation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula occurred on June 16, when the DPRK demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, calling it retaliation for the distribution of propaganda leaflets by South Korean non-governmental organizations.

Later, the general headquarters of the DPRK announced plans to deploy units of the People's Army in the Kumgangsan and Kaesong areas, restore guard posts along the demilitarized zone and resume all types of military exercises on the border, but on June 24, the North Korean leader ordered the planned actions to be postponed. In South Korea, this decision was welcomed.

Source: https://penzanews.ru/en/analysis/66771-2020