US turning softer on NK ahead of second summit

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, outgoing Secretary of Defense James Mattis, center, and national security adviser John Bolton attend a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 17. Reuters-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

U.S. President Donald Trump apparently thinks his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un anticipated for sometime early next year will go well because Washington is easing some of its pressure on North Korea.

Sources said the U.S. has begun to show off a "softer" stance toward North Korea, allegedly to pave the way for the possible second summit between Kim and Trump.

"The United States doesn't want to see fallout in denuclearization talks on multiple fronts. Washington still believes it is still too early to relax economic sanctions given a lack of progress in talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program. Ahead of the upcoming second North Korea-United States summit, Washington is turning softer on Pyongyang to make progress happen," a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said.

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"South Korea believes the denuclearization process has reached the no-return point and also entered an irreversible phase," the official said, adding the North Korean leader will "surely visit" South Korea. "Kim Jong-un's visit to Seoul is simply just a scheduling matter."

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is greeted by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, right, during their meeting at the unification ministry in Seoul, Dec. 21. North Korea said last week it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States first removes what Pyongyang called a nuclear threat. AP-Yonhap

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence canceled his earlier plan to give a speech on North Korea's human rights abuses last week. The cancellation was due to a scheduling mismatch, but given the sensitivity on North Korean human rights issues, observers say the cancellation is another sign that Washington may further ease some of its pressure on North Korea.

The 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world, including executions, assassinations, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other types of sexual violence.

"Simply, human rights issues are very sensitive ones. Seoul plans to take a low-key stance on the issue," said another Cheong Wa Dae official, adding an upcoming UNSC meeting is unlikely to issue a statement directly mentioning the poor human rights situation in North Korea as the United States wants to move nuclear talks forward by easing pressure on human rights.

South Korea is ready to ask the United States for wider exemptions on sanctions on North Korea to expand joint economic and business projects including projects to reconnect roads and railways. Seoul's unification ministry said it will soon send up to $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea to assist North Koreans who face extreme food shortages.

Chief U.S. envoy for North Korean issues Steve Biegun met with National Security Office adviser Chung Eui-yong at Cheong Wa Dae last week. Officials say the afternoon tea meeting between the high-profile officials mainly covered the issue of how to expand inter-Korean economic issues ahead of the second in-person meeting between the state heads of the United States and North Korea.

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