The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States could resume working-level talks aimed at dismantling the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs within two to three weeks, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s lawmakers briefed by a spy agency said on Tuesday.
The lawmakers said a fourth summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump was possible within this year, if the negotiations make progress, but did not provide clear evidence.
Trump, Moon meet on DPRK
One day ahead of the brief, Trump and his ROK counterpart Moon Jae-in held a summit in New York on Monday to discuss plans to restart stalled nuclear talks between the U.S. and the DPRK, before a meeting in Seoul to discuss sharing the cost of American soldiers stationed in the ROK.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and his ROK counterpart Moon Jae-in held a summit in New York, U.S., September 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
Although negotiations with the DPRK have stalled since a failed second summit between Trump and Kim in February, Pyongyang has said it is willing to restart talks in late September. No date or location has been set.
"There's been no nuclear testing at all," Trump told reporters as he met Moon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"And the relationships have been very good ... We want to see if we can do something. If we can, that'll be great. And if we can't, that's fine, we'll see what happens."
Moon said he hopes working-level negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang will be held soon in preparation for a third summit, but Trump said he would want to know the DPRK's position in the run-up to a third summit with Kim before agreeing to it.
U.S President Donald Trump (L) and John Bolton attend a briefing from Senior Military Leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 9, 2018. /VCG Photo
"Right now, people would like to see that happen. I want to know what's going to be coming out of it. We can know a lot before the summit takes place," the U.S. president said.
Military cost-sharing
The DPRK's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil, last week welcomed Trump's suggestion for a "new method" in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, saying he wanted to be "optimistic" the U.S. would present the "right calculation method."
Last week, Trump distanced himself from a suggestion by his former national security adviser, John Bolton, for a Libyan model of denuclearization for the DPRK. Bolton was fired this month, with Trump naming Robert O'Brien as his new national security adviser.
Talks on renewing a military cost-sharing deal with the U.S. will begin on Tuesday in Seoul, ROK's foreign ministry has said.
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Seoul has shouldered part of the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in the country since a 1991 pact. In March it signed a deal with the U.S. to pay 1.04 trillion won (870.94 million U.S. dollars) this year – an increase of 8.2 percent on the year.
The agreement expires at the end of this year.
Trump has repeatedly urged the ROK to contribute more to the cost. "South Korea (ROK) is a very wealthy nation," he wrote last month on Twitter, adding, "Talks have begun to further increase payments to the United States."
(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un speak to reporters, as the two leaders meet in Freedom House at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, June 30, 2019. /VCG Photo)
(With input from Reuters)