Russia, China, North Korea Agree on 5-Way Talks

Date: 10 October 2018 - 21:28

News ID: ۵۸۳۴۸

MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that Russia, China and North Korea had agreed on the need for five-way talks including the United States and South Korea to end tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Deputy foreign ministers from Russia, North Korea and China had met in Moscow on Tuesday and expressed support for talks in such a format to normalize relations, the ministry said in a statement.
South Korea said earlier Wednesday that it is considering removing its unilateral sanctions against the North and improving bilateral ties between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told legislators in Seoul that South Korea is weighing options on whether to lift sanctions it imposed on Pyongyang in 2010 following a deadly attack on a warship that killed 45 South Korean sailors.
However, the likely lifting of the unilateral sanctions would be mostly a symbolic gesture since it is impossible for Seoul to resume joint economic projects with Pyongyang under the U.S.-led sanctions.
South Korea’s top diplomat called on Washington last week to declare an end to the Korean War -- a key demand of Pyongyang -- in exchange for a verified closure of a major North Korean nuclear facility as the next step in the stalled negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump asserted on Tuesday that he plans to hold a second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un following his country’s upcoming midterm elections in November.
He did not identify the possible location of their next summit but also didn’t discount the suggestion of his Mar-a-Lago golf estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump and Kim met in Singapore on June 12 for the first-ever summit between the leaders of the two countries. During the summit, Kim reportedly pledged to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. officials, however, insist that there have been no public signs of denuclearization in North Korea. Pyongyang, on the other hand, has emphasized that Washington has betrayed the spirit of the June summit by making unilateral demands for denuclearization without taking any reciprocal measures.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said during his address to the UN General Assembly on September 29 that continued sanctions against the North are just deepening the rift of mistrust in the U.S.
He insisted that there is "no way” his country will abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons unilaterally as long as Washington sticks to sanctions against Pyongyang.
"Without any trust in the U.S. there will be no confidence in our national security and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first,” Ri said.