The stopovers of North Korean negotiator Kim Myong Gil at Beijing Airport are mostly revealing. When Kim traveled to Sweden to discuss the North Korean nuclear program last Thursday, he had to change to China. There he told reporters that he was "filled with great expectations and optimism." The Americans had sent "new signals".
On Monday, on his way home, Kim sounded very different: "Ask the US if the talks continue, if the US is not well prepared, who knows what can happen then, let's just wait and see. " It is easy to see from these remarks that North Korea considers the negotiations a failure for the time being. The delegation from Pyongyang described the meeting as "disappointing" and even "disgusting". Eight and a half hours had met the negotiators of both sides on Saturday in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
The US Department of State disseminated a very different view: "Good" were the negotiations, said ministry spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus. The presentation of the North Koreans do not reflect "content and spirit" of the meeting. The US representatives had brought in "creative ideas". She did not give more details, but said the US and North Korea could not eliminate "70 years of war and hostility on the Korean peninsula" in one day.
North Korea renews ultimatum
Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde seemed to have come to a similar conclusion. The talks were initially constructive, she said. "Then there was, I think, a different view of what you can achieve in a meeting." She invited both sides to continue to negotiate in Stockholm in two weeks. The US agreed, the North Korean side reacted dismissively.
It is therefore unclear whether and when further talks take place. The demolition comes as no surprise to Yang Moo Jin, a professor at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul: "This is a typical North Korean tactic." Ruler Kim Jong Un is pursuing a policy on the edge of the abyss, called "Brinkmanship" in Anglo-American space. The goal of this high-risk policy is to persuade the counterpart to yield by threatening him strategically. Perhaps the delegation from Pyongyang is now trying to squeeze concessions out of the US by returning it to the negotiating table.
In any case, North Korea is trying to portray the American side as inflexible and to increase pressure. As early as April, Kim Jong Un demanded that the US change its attitude by the end of the year. A Foreign Ministry spokesman repeated this blatant threat: "The deadline is the end of the year." The ministry also emphasized that the US has been sending signals over and over again that they are ready for a "new approach" and "creative solutions." In Stockholm, however, they had brought "nothing new" to the negotiating table.
Negotiators must continue to negotiate
Apparently this also means a statement by US President Donald Trump in September, which had considered a "new way". In response to criticism from his former National Security Advisor John Bolton on his North Korea course, Trump said, "John should see how bad things have gone in the past, and maybe a new approach would be very good." The dismissal of hardliner Bolton and the imminent impeachment proceedings against Trump could have strengthened the authoritarian leadership in Pyongyang in the belief that the Americans would negotiate more flexibly.
So far, the US has been demanding that North Korea be completely nuclear disarmament - only then will Washington be ready to facilitate sanctions, which are currently hitting the regime hard. In this question, both sides were already far apart at their last meeting in February. Without result ended the summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. The negotiations in Stockholm have since then been the first talks on the nuclear program, apart from an informal meeting Trumps with Kim Jong Un in June. Real progress in the disarmament negotiations has not brought any of Trump's and Kim's summits - also because, on a complex issue like this, it is usually crucial that details are negotiated at the working level.
Therefore, new discussions between the negotiators would be necessary. The South Korean government, which has been involved as an intermediary again and again since last year, does not want to declare the dialogue over. The South Korean government's special envoy, Lee Do Hoon, has since gone to Washington to discuss with US envoy to North Korea, Stephen Biegun. A spokesman for the presidential palace in Seoul warned on Monday that it was important to return to the negotiating table.