North Korea willing to start direct talks with US, says South Korea 북한, 미국과 단독 대화 용의
North Korea willing to start direct talks with US, says South Korea
Announcement comes as controversial North Korean general mobbed on visit to Winter Olympics
Benjamin Haas in Pyeongchang
@haasbenjamin
Sun 25 Feb 2018 12.27 GMT First published on Sun 25 Feb 2018 02.48 GMT
Protesters burn a North Korean flag during a rally against the visit by Kim Yong-chol, heading an eight-member
delegation to the Pyeongchang Games’ closing ceremony. Photograph: Joseph Chung/AFP/Getty Images
북한, 미국과 단독 대화 용의
북한, 미국과 단독으로 만나 대화할 용의있다.고 한국 당국자가 말했다고 가디언지가 보도했다.
천안함 폭침의 주범으로 논란이되고 있는 북한군 김영철이 동계 올림픽 폐막식 참석 차 평창을
방문하기에 앞서
서울의 시위자들은 인공기과 김영철의 방남을 반대하면 초상화를 불태우는 시위를 벌였으며
천안함 희생자 46명의 유가족들도 김영철의 초상화를 들고 그의 방남을 규턴하는 시위를 벌였다.
황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 큐레이터
Ki Chul Hwang, conpaper editor, curator
North Korea is willing to start direct talks with the US, with the move coming as a high-level delegation from Pyongyang, headed by a controversial general, arrived for the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
Pyongyang also said the relationship between the two Koreas and US-North Korean ties should advance in tandem, according to South Korea’s presidential Blue House. The announcement on Sunday comes after president Moon Jae-in met the head of the North Korean delegation, Kim Yong-chol, vice-chairman of the ruling Workers’ party’s central committee.
The eight-person team from North Korea includes officials responsible for its nuclear programme and, in a rare move, diplomats in charge of US issues.
The makeup of the group suggests Pyongyang is looking for a breakthrough in the diplomatic impasse and economic sanctions resulting from its nuclear and missile tests, and could signal a desire for more substantial talks compared with an earlier visit by Kim Jong-un’s sister during the opening ceremony.
The North Korean officials crossed the border on foot and were met by a mob of South Korean media before being rushed into waiting black police cars. Opposition politicians and protesters travelled to the area near the border to condemn Kim.
Kim is a highly controversial figure to lead the delegation because many in South Korea blame him for the sinking of a naval ship that killed 46 sailors and attacks on remote islands in 2010. The 72-year-old previously headed the Reconnaissance General Bureau and was tasked with foreign espionage and cyber-attacks.
Family members of victims of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan march with defaced portraits of
Kim Yong-chol in Seoul on Saturday. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP
His trip coincides with a visit by Ivanka Trump, sparking speculation that officials from the two sides could meet while in South Korea. An earlier meeting with the US vice-president, Mike Pence, was cancelled at the last minute after he criticised Pyongyang’s dismal human rights record.
Trump was seated just metres from Kim at the Olympics closing ceremony, and the two watched as athletes from North Korea waved their own flag – a rare sight in South Korea. The two neighbours marched together under a unified flag during the opening event.
The Winter Olympics have led to a dramatic rapprochement between the two neighbours that remain in a state of war. The two sides have begun discussions for North Korea to participate in next month’s Paralympic Games, which would be likely to lead to a lull in tensions until the end of March.
North Korea sanctions: Donald Trump announces 'largest ever' package
Several prominent politicians have spoken out against the South Korean president’s decision to allow Kim – who has been blacklisted by Washington and Seoul – to lead the delegation.
Dozens of protesters travelled to condemn Kim upon his arrival, some holding signs calling him a war criminal. Six opposition lawmakers camped overnight on a road near where Kim crossed the border, saying Moon should cancel the visit, and local media reported some demonstrators might try to block the road leading from the border.
A day before the North Korean officials arrived, Pyongyang said its nuclear arsenal was aimed only at the US and dismissed any talk that it would attempt to reunify the Korean peninsula by force, according to the state news agency.
Washington announced a new round of sanctions targeting more than 50 ships and trading companies and Donald Trump warned there would be a “phase two” if the move did not produce results.
