Is denuclearization possible if the US gives nothing?

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03:29

“The most important concern for the DPRK is security,” Wang Chong, a senior fellow from the Chinese think tank Charhar Institute, talked to Asia Today after the DPRK and the US released different, or even quite the opposite opinions over the two-day talks between Pyongyang and the visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The DPRK says it held deep discussions with Pompeo on the sincere implementation of the Singapore summit agreement. However, a Foreign Ministry statement released by the state news agency KCNA accused the United States of behaving like a gangster making unilateral demands for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

The DPRK says the conditions for denuclearization must first be created by building a peaceful environment and ending the Korean War.

On the other side, Pompeo stated that he had a productive conversation with Pyongyang. His comments came a few hours after the DPRK’s statement.

Wang said that the contradictory comments on the high-level talks must point toward two different opinions in the DPRK towards the US on denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula.

“Pyongyang demands security and seeks to leave the sanction, they also want money and aids from the international world,” Wang emphasized. “But, the US only wants to have complete denuclearization of the DPRK, without any compromise.''

Pompeo stressed that there's still work to do on the timeline for DPRK's denuclearization, adding that all sanctions would remain. Wang commented that the US wanted everything, but gave nothing, which is the contradiction for the current situation.

Wang believed that the talks with the DPRK would be a long way to go, and he called the US to realize that denuclearization is a process that should be made step by step.

“If the two sides have contradictions, other parties should join into persuading them to make things done,” Wang told us, saying now there are more voices in the DPRK calling for being tough on the US, so the US needs other major players to join and help with the situation.