All eyes on talks with N. Korea after PyeongChang Olympics

  • 6 years ago
And to tell us more about what we can expect in regards to talks between the two Koreas, as well as between the U.S. and North Korea,... Dr. Woo Jung-yeop, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute,... joins us in the studio today.
Welcome to the program Dr. Woo.


Good to be here.


1- So to start us off... a meeting between Ivanka Trump and Kim Yong-chol ended up not happening.
Why so?


2- But like we heard earlier, on Sunday, Kim Yong-chol expressed an openness to talks with the U.S.
What can we make of this?
What could be North Korea's intention behind such an offer?


3- Now the U.S. has responded cautiously to the possibility of talks with North Korea,... saying it would first see whether Pyongyang puts de-nuclearization on the table.


4- Let's shift our focus over a little bit to inter-Korean talks.
President Moon and Kim Yong-chol met for talks on Sunday,... just hours ahead of the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Tell us more about this unannounced meeting.


5- There are questions over what kind of "card" Kim might have brought to the meeting.
Do you think Kim Yong-chol had another message delivered to President Moon from Kim Jong-un?


6- What about the postponed joint military talks between Seoul and Washington?


7- And on Sunday, South Korea's unification ministry said that it will make efforts to hold further talks with North Korea as the Olympics helped revive momentum for inter-Korean dialogue.
So when can we expect the inter-Korean summit to take place?


8- Meanwhile U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. had leveled its (QUOTE-UNQUOTE) "heaviest sanctions ever" against Pyongyang.
What impact would such sanctions have on North Korea's shipping and trading abilities.


9- The timing of this announcement of the sanctions was also interesting considering that the U.S. has announced this right before Ivanka was to cross paths with Kim Yong-chol at the closing ceremony for the Olympics.


10- And if the new sanctions don't succeed in curtailing North Korea's aggression,... Trump said a "phase two" could be the next step.
What's this "phase two," and what can we expect on this front?


11- And the Trump administration has been preparing to expand interceptions of ships suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea.
How would South Korea go about joining this plan, and what impact would such actions have on inter-Korean relations?

Thank you for your insight today.

My pleasure.

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