North Korea's release of 3 American detainees seen as Pyongyang's strong determination and sincerity in holding summit with the U.S. : expert
- 6 years ago
With the delay over the announcement of the North Korea-U.S. summit details, many had been concerned that plans had stalled.
But with the North's release of American detainees during U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang,... the two sides seem to be back on track again.
Lee Ji-won has more.
On top of having fine tuned the details for the historic first meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, the release of three American detainees made U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang all the more satisfactory for Washington.
And a North Korean expert says, this was part of Kim Jong-un's efforts to show his sincerity towards the much anticipated summit.
"With the summit ahead, this shows Kim's willingness to maintain a reconciliatory mood and to hold the meeting. And we can say that could translate into his sincerity in denuclearizing."
Though the expert said the release of the detainees would not have been used as a card to negotiate the lifting of economic sanctions or levels of denuclearization, he said he does think the North could expect something in return.
"There could be a link between the release of detainees and the possibility of the U.S. raising human rights issues in North Korea. The release could be a sign Kim is sending to Trump, asking him *not* to raise human rights problems too strongly during the summit."
Human rights is one of the most sensitive issues to North Korea. It has shown strong rhetoric and hostility whenever it has been rebuked on the matter.
Just last week, North Korea's state newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, published a commentary criticizing the U.S. as the greatest offender of human rights issues.
This comes as the U.S. publication "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017" labeled North Korea and a number of countries including China and Russia as "morally reprehensible".
But despite such reactions from the North, the U.S. has continued to press the issue, with the U.S. State Department issuing a scathing condemnation of Pyongyang's human rights violations last week.
While some experts point to the human rights issue as one of the reasons for the delay in finalizing and announcing the details of the summit, they say the latest development between North Korea and the U.S. could mean the two have reached an agreement on the matter.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
But with the North's release of American detainees during U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang,... the two sides seem to be back on track again.
Lee Ji-won has more.
On top of having fine tuned the details for the historic first meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, the release of three American detainees made U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang all the more satisfactory for Washington.
And a North Korean expert says, this was part of Kim Jong-un's efforts to show his sincerity towards the much anticipated summit.
"With the summit ahead, this shows Kim's willingness to maintain a reconciliatory mood and to hold the meeting. And we can say that could translate into his sincerity in denuclearizing."
Though the expert said the release of the detainees would not have been used as a card to negotiate the lifting of economic sanctions or levels of denuclearization, he said he does think the North could expect something in return.
"There could be a link between the release of detainees and the possibility of the U.S. raising human rights issues in North Korea. The release could be a sign Kim is sending to Trump, asking him *not* to raise human rights problems too strongly during the summit."
Human rights is one of the most sensitive issues to North Korea. It has shown strong rhetoric and hostility whenever it has been rebuked on the matter.
Just last week, North Korea's state newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, published a commentary criticizing the U.S. as the greatest offender of human rights issues.
This comes as the U.S. publication "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017" labeled North Korea and a number of countries including China and Russia as "morally reprehensible".
But despite such reactions from the North, the U.S. has continued to press the issue, with the U.S. State Department issuing a scathing condemnation of Pyongyang's human rights violations last week.
While some experts point to the human rights issue as one of the reasons for the delay in finalizing and announcing the details of the summit, they say the latest development between North Korea and the U.S. could mean the two have reached an agreement on the matter.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.