Why did North Korea cancel talks with South Korea? And is the U.S. summit about to be called off?
Arirang News
2018-05-16
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남북 고위급회담 불발 배경은? - 우정엽 박사 대담
To take a further look at these latest surprising developments we have with us Dr. Woo Jung-yeop,... a research fellow at the Sejong Institute. Dr. Woo thank you for joining us.
My pleasure.
1 - We just heard in that report what the 'Max Thunder' drills are, and North Korea has cited those drills specifically as to why it called off today's high-level talks with South Korea. Can they be considered serious enough for Pyongyang to take this kind of step?
2 - Other military drills, such as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, were suspended for the inter-Korean summit. Was there a reason why 'Max Thunder' was not suspended?
3 - If we look at the series of events… the 'Max Thunder' drills began on the 11th. Four days later on the 15th, the North contacted the South and said let's hold the high-level talks on the 16th. And then suddenly on the morning of the 16th the North said we're cancelling talks because of the drills. What I don't understand is... Pyongyang must have known about the drills when it proposed to hold the talks in the first place. Why this sudden change of face?
4 - North Korea's state media commentary which announced that the North was calling off the talks, also criticized South Korea's National Assembly. Some are saying this in response to allowing former North Korean diplomat and defector Thae Yong-ho to hold a press conference at the National Assembly building to promote his new book. Do you think that might be a reason as well?
5 - South Korea and the U.S. have said they have no plans to stop the Max Thunder exercise, despite these developments. Do you think North Korea will react further?
6 - Later in the day, there was another development. North Korean state media reported comments by the regime's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan who said that if the U.S. tries to force North Korea into one-sided or unilateral demands to denuclearize then the North would have to reconsider summit talks. After all this progress towards talks, why this sudden change? And is there a link perhaps with the South Korea talks today that were cancelled.
6a. - How serious is this threat to call off the U.S.? Is this just a negotiation tactic?
7 - The North Korean official also railed against suggestions by Washington's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that the U.S. would be willing to facilitate private economic investment in the regime once it denuclearizes. The vice-minister said Pyongyang has never had any expectations of such assistance from the U.S. and that it would never make any deal to do so. To me, it seems the North's pride has been hurt over the suggestion that it needs handouts from the U.S.?
8 - Do you think there is a chance the North Korea-U.S. summit will be cancelled? And if so, what happens next?
9 - If the North Korea-U.S. summit does get cancelled, then what next for South Korea? It's only been three weeks since we thought a new page has been turned with the P
To take a further look at these latest surprising developments we have with us Dr. Woo Jung-yeop,... a research fellow at the Sejong Institute. Dr. Woo thank you for joining us.
My pleasure.
1 - We just heard in that report what the 'Max Thunder' drills are, and North Korea has cited those drills specifically as to why it called off today's high-level talks with South Korea. Can they be considered serious enough for Pyongyang to take this kind of step?
2 - Other military drills, such as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, were suspended for the inter-Korean summit. Was there a reason why 'Max Thunder' was not suspended?
3 - If we look at the series of events… the 'Max Thunder' drills began on the 11th. Four days later on the 15th, the North contacted the South and said let's hold the high-level talks on the 16th. And then suddenly on the morning of the 16th the North said we're cancelling talks because of the drills. What I don't understand is... Pyongyang must have known about the drills when it proposed to hold the talks in the first place. Why this sudden change of face?
4 - North Korea's state media commentary which announced that the North was calling off the talks, also criticized South Korea's National Assembly. Some are saying this in response to allowing former North Korean diplomat and defector Thae Yong-ho to hold a press conference at the National Assembly building to promote his new book. Do you think that might be a reason as well?
5 - South Korea and the U.S. have said they have no plans to stop the Max Thunder exercise, despite these developments. Do you think North Korea will react further?
6 - Later in the day, there was another development. North Korean state media reported comments by the regime's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan who said that if the U.S. tries to force North Korea into one-sided or unilateral demands to denuclearize then the North would have to reconsider summit talks. After all this progress towards talks, why this sudden change? And is there a link perhaps with the South Korea talks today that were cancelled.
6a. - How serious is this threat to call off the U.S.? Is this just a negotiation tactic?
7 - The North Korean official also railed against suggestions by Washington's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that the U.S. would be willing to facilitate private economic investment in the regime once it denuclearizes. The vice-minister said Pyongyang has never had any expectations of such assistance from the U.S. and that it would never make any deal to do so. To me, it seems the North's pride has been hurt over the suggestion that it needs handouts from the U.S.?
8 - Do you think there is a chance the North Korea-U.S. summit will be cancelled? And if so, what happens next?
9 - If the North Korea-U.S. summit does get cancelled, then what next for South Korea? It's only been three weeks since we thought a new page has been turned with the P
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