North Korea asks for postponement of North Korea-U.S. high-level talk: Kang
- 6 years ago
Washington announced its high-level talks with North Korea is postponed, citing scheduling issues.
Today Seoul's foreign minister backed this explanation, and added that Pyeongyang requested the change in date.
Lee Ji-won has our top story.
In a meeting Thursday of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, South Korea's foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said that according to the U.S., the North was the one to ask that the high-level meeting in New York be postponed.
It did so, she said, because both sides schedules were full.
She added that there may have been some difficulty in terms of time, but that the State Department has publicly and definitively said that it will be held at a later date.
This is in line with what the State Department's Deputy Spokesperson, Robert Palladino, said at a briefing on Wednesday -- that the delay is "purely a scheduling issue."
Secretary Pompeo was to meet the head of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, Kim Yong-chol, in New York on Thursday, but the State Department announced that it was postponed just the day before.
Still, U.S. President Donald Trump appears confident that he will hold his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "early next year".
"Sometime next year, I would say. Sometime early next year."
At a press conference after the midterm elections on Wednesday, President Trump fielded questions from reporters at the White House.
He confirmed that the change in schedule was due to "trips being made," without much elaboration,... and added that Washington is very happy with how it's going with Pyeongyang.
While emphasizing that he is in no rush,... Trump also mentioned that the sanctions are still on and hinted that North Korea must also be "responsive."
"Now, I'd love to take the sanctions off but they have to be responsive too. It's a two-way street. But we're not in any rush."
But there are concerns that the two sides could be heading for a stalemate again.
Reports from South Korea and the U.S., citing foreign affairs sources, say that the meeting was actually postponed because the two sides could not resolve their differences.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
Today Seoul's foreign minister backed this explanation, and added that Pyeongyang requested the change in date.
Lee Ji-won has our top story.
In a meeting Thursday of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, South Korea's foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said that according to the U.S., the North was the one to ask that the high-level meeting in New York be postponed.
It did so, she said, because both sides schedules were full.
She added that there may have been some difficulty in terms of time, but that the State Department has publicly and definitively said that it will be held at a later date.
This is in line with what the State Department's Deputy Spokesperson, Robert Palladino, said at a briefing on Wednesday -- that the delay is "purely a scheduling issue."
Secretary Pompeo was to meet the head of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, Kim Yong-chol, in New York on Thursday, but the State Department announced that it was postponed just the day before.
Still, U.S. President Donald Trump appears confident that he will hold his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "early next year".
"Sometime next year, I would say. Sometime early next year."
At a press conference after the midterm elections on Wednesday, President Trump fielded questions from reporters at the White House.
He confirmed that the change in schedule was due to "trips being made," without much elaboration,... and added that Washington is very happy with how it's going with Pyeongyang.
While emphasizing that he is in no rush,... Trump also mentioned that the sanctions are still on and hinted that North Korea must also be "responsive."
"Now, I'd love to take the sanctions off but they have to be responsive too. It's a two-way street. But we're not in any rush."
But there are concerns that the two sides could be heading for a stalemate again.
Reports from South Korea and the U.S., citing foreign affairs sources, say that the meeting was actually postponed because the two sides could not resolve their differences.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.