Pyongyang is pushing for major concessions from Washington before it agrees to resume working-level talks or hold another summit with the U.S., experts say.“What the North Koreans are indicating that they want right now (are) … two things essentially” as “preconditions before they schedule any talks,” said Harry Kazianis, director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest. “I think that is some kind of promise on sanctions relief, and I also think they want some sort of written or verbally given security guarantees.”North Korea said Tuesday that the U.S. decision to postpone joint military drills with South Korea is not enough for it to return to the negotiating table.“We demand that the U.S. quit the drills or stop it once and for all,” said Kim Yong Chol, chairman of North Korea’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “The U.S. should not dream of negotiating for denuclearization before dropping its hostile policy.”U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Sunday that the U.S. and South Korea agreed to postpone a joint air force drill scheduled for later this month. He described the move as “an act of good will” aimed at providing an atmosphere for North Korea to return to the negotiating table.Protesters shout slogans while holding signs to oppose planned joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 5, 2019.Earlier in the month, the U.S. had announced the drills would be scaled back to provide room for diplomacy. John Bolton, left, and others attend an extended bilateral meeting between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, in Hanoi, Vietnam Feb. 28, 2019.“In addition to the postponement of the drills, it’s trying to get sanctions relief,” said Fitzpatrick, adding, “The U.S. is not going to bend over backward to make concessions on sanctions.” Kazianis said North Korea is mistaken if it thinks Trump is in a position to grant concessions to Kim either directly through another summit or through working-level talks while the impeachment inquiry is underway.“I don’t think they understand the pressure that Donald Trump is in,” said Kazianis. “He has no political bandwidth to forge some sort of grand bargain with Kim Jong Un right now. There is no way he would be able to sell hawkish Republican senators or really almost anybody here in Washington that he would give sanctions relief and all these other concessions either upfront or during working-level talks.” Joseph DeTrani, who served as the special envoy for the six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea during the George W. Bush administration, thinks working-level talks should and could resume.However, he said the U.S. will not and should not grant more concessions than it had with the postponement of the joint drills.“Suspending the joint military exercises with (South Korea) was a sign of extreme goodwill on the part of the U.S.,” said DeTrani. “I think the U.S. is showing a lot of flexibility on that. I think that’s enough. (If) North Korea is putting conditions on another summit for other deliverables from the U.S., they are terribly mistaken. I just don’t see that ever happening.”Christy Lee contributed to this report originated by the VOA Korean Service.
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