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US ‘happy to meet’ with N. Korea ‘anytime, anywhere’

November 11, 2015
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his residence, Habib House, in downtown Seoul. (Korea Times file)

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his residence, Habib House, in downtown Seoul. (Korea Times file)

By Brian Han

The dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea is starting to sound a bit like a playground rivalry. The two countries are well aware of what the other wants, but it’s keeping both parties at a standstill.

The U.S., along with many other countries, particularly in the Asia Pacific, wants the communist country to abandon its nuclear weapon development program before beginning any attempts toward diplomacy.

North Korea wants to improve ties with outside countries as it is coming to terms with the difficult reality that it can’t rely on itself — or handouts from outside countries — forever. But it refuses to halt its attempts at miniaturizing nuclear warheads.

The latest public statement came from Ambassador Sung Kim, a representative for North Korean policy, on behalf of the U.S.

“I think for us it’s pretty straightforward. If they’re willing to talk about the nuclear issue and how we can move towards meaningful productive credible negotiations, we would be happy to meet with them anytime, anywhere,” Kim told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, according to Yonhap.

One of the primary goals is to put an end to the state of war between the two countries that dates back more than six decades to the Korean War. The two countries signed an armistice, but never a peace treaty.

Just a few weeks ago, the North Korean government made a surprising offer to pursue such a treaty and improve relations.

The U.S. turned it down for the same reason that no meaningful dialogue has begun — the North is adamant about keeping its nuclear weapons program.

“We have no qualms about sitting down with the North Koreans to talk about denuclearization and how we can work together … toward some meaningful negotiations that result in concrete, irreversible denuclearization steps. So I think that idea is still valid, but it’s up to the North Koreans and so far they’ve shown no interest,” Kim said.