Moon, Pence meeting in Singapore, discussing denuclearization process
- 5 years ago
President Moon Jae-in is meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Singapore and their meeting comes as North Korea and the U.S. are in a stalemate in their denuclearization negotiations.
We connect to our Blue House correspondent Hwang Hojun on the phone for more details.
Hojun, what are we hearing so far?.
Ji-yoon, So as we speak right now, President Moon and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence are meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related meetings in Singapore.
According to the Blue House, the main objective is for them to discuss measures to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula as well as ways to build on South Korea-U.S. relations.
Of course, the big question is will President Moon be able to kickstart North Korea's denuclearization process, which has ground to a halt in recent weeks,... and rekindle talks between Pyeongyang and Washington.
It was just last week when planned high-level talks in New York between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol were canceled at the last minute.
The chasm seems to have widen even further as Pence wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post last week saying the U.S. will continue to quote "exert unprecedented diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea",... not to mention a report by the Center for Strategic International Studies on Monday, revealing at least 13 of an estimated 20 undeclared missile operating bases in the North.
Even South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, confirmed usual levels of activities there.
The Blue House has insisted that ongoing negotiations with North Korea are therefore necessary to halt such activities and realize the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Which is why the meeting today,... the first high-level, face-to-face talks between Seoul and Washington since the recent diplomatic clash,... is garnering great focus around the world.
We'll bring you more details in our later newscasts.
Jiyoon.
We connect to our Blue House correspondent Hwang Hojun on the phone for more details.
Hojun, what are we hearing so far?.
Ji-yoon, So as we speak right now, President Moon and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence are meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related meetings in Singapore.
According to the Blue House, the main objective is for them to discuss measures to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula as well as ways to build on South Korea-U.S. relations.
Of course, the big question is will President Moon be able to kickstart North Korea's denuclearization process, which has ground to a halt in recent weeks,... and rekindle talks between Pyeongyang and Washington.
It was just last week when planned high-level talks in New York between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol were canceled at the last minute.
The chasm seems to have widen even further as Pence wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post last week saying the U.S. will continue to quote "exert unprecedented diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea",... not to mention a report by the Center for Strategic International Studies on Monday, revealing at least 13 of an estimated 20 undeclared missile operating bases in the North.
Even South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, confirmed usual levels of activities there.
The Blue House has insisted that ongoing negotiations with North Korea are therefore necessary to halt such activities and realize the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Which is why the meeting today,... the first high-level, face-to-face talks between Seoul and Washington since the recent diplomatic clash,... is garnering great focus around the world.
We'll bring you more details in our later newscasts.
Jiyoon.