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N. Korea warns of returning to nuclear policy
SEOUL, Nov 4, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – North Korea has warned the United States it
will “seriously” consider returning to a state policy aimed at building
nuclear weapons if Washington does not end tough economic sanctions against
the impoverished regime.
For years, the North had pursued a “byungjin” policy of simultaneously
developing its nuclear capabilities alongside the economy.
In April, citing a “fresh climate of detente and peace” on the peninsula,
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the nuclear quest complete and said
his country would focus on “socialist economic construction”.
But a statement issued by the North’s foreign ministry said Pyongyang
could revert to its former policy if the US did not change its stance over
sanctions.
“The word ‘byungjin’ may appear again and the change of the line could be
seriously reconsidered,” said the statement carried by the official KCNA news
agency late Friday.
At a historic summit in Singapore in June, US President Donald Trump and
Kim signed a vaguely-worded statement on denuclearisation.
But little progress has been made since then, with Washington pushing to
maintain sanctions against the North until its “final, fully verified
denuclearisation” and Pyongyang condemning US demands as “gangster-like”.
“The improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible,” said the
statement, released under the name of the director of the foreign ministry’s
Institute for American Studies.
“What remains to be done is the US corresponding reply,” it added.
The statement is the latest sign of Pyongyang’s increasing frustration
with Washington.
Last month, the North’s state media carried a near 1,700 words long
commentary accusing the US of playing a “double game”, implicitly criticising
Trump for his comments aimed at barring Seoul from lifting sanctions against
Pyongyang.
Despite a flurry of diplomacy on and around the peninsula differences are
emerging between Seoul and Washington, which stations 28,500 troops in the
South to protect it from its nuclear-armed neighbour.
The South’s dovish president Moon Jae-in has long favoured engagement with
the North, which is subject to multiple UN Security Council sanctions over
its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
He has dangled large investment and joint cross-border projects as
incentives for steps towards denuclearisation, while the US has been adamant
pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it fully dismantles its
weapons programmes.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
reiterated that sanctions will remain until Pyongyang carries out
denuclearisation commitments made in Singapore, adding he will meet with his
North Korean counterpart next week.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1438 hrs