Daily US Times, Seoul: US special envoy Stephen Biegun urges North Korea to join negotiating table with his country saying ‘we are here, let’s get this done.’
Mr Biegun’s comment in Seoul comes after North Korea conducted a missile test at a satellite launch site.
Relations between the US and North Korea have been suffering highs and lows for the last couple of years. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un already sat meeting with the US President Donald Trump twice. The first historic meeting between the two was held in Singapore, which is described as a big achievement by both sides. But the second meeting in Hanoi was a disaster. The US withdraws itself amid the discussion when the North asks all sanctions to be lifted en exchange of denuclearization. Since then, their relationship turns into sour.
President Trump said he would not lift sanctions until North Korea fully abandons its nuclear programme.
Recently North Korea has set an end-of-year deadline for the US to come up with a new denuclearisation deal that. The deal would involve significant sanctions relief for the country. The country said the US could expect a “Christmas gift” if it did not comply.
Biegun called this comment ‘hostile, negative and so unnecessary’. He added ‘ the US had goal… not a deadline’.
Urging the North to enter talks with the US, he said ‘it is time for us to do our jobs. Let’s get this done. We are here, and you know how to reach us.’
North Korea says, If the US make an unacceptable offer, it would find a ‘new way’.
On 8 December, it said it carried out a ‘very important test’. It held a second test less than a week later on 14 December.
Both tests were said to be carried out at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground – a site that North Korea had promised to dismantle.
