North Koreans Are No Show at U.S. War Dead Talks
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
North Korean officials didn’t show up for a planned meeting with U.S. counterparts to discuss returning the remains of American war dead, South Korean media reported , in the latest sign of tensions between the two sides.
U.S. negotiators arrived Thursday at the militarized border between the two Koreas as previously announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and were kept waiting, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing diplomatic officials it didn’t identify. The meeting was expected to be the first working-level talks between the two sides since Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang ended Saturday with North Korea denouncing the U.S.’s “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization.”
A spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea referred questions Thursday to the Department of Defense in Washington. The Pentagon didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday. Pompeo had said when announcing the talks that the meeting could “move by one day or two.”
While the details are unclear, a failure to meet on the issue wouldn’t bode well for broader negotiations about North Korea’s nuclear program. The discussions about returning Americans soldiers killed almost 70 years ago was perhaps the most tangible outcome from Pompeo’s trip, which analysts expected would at least secure the release of some remains.
The Department of Defense estimates that North Korea is holding about 200 sets of remains from some 5,300 American military personnel believed missing in the country. Their recovery has long been among the most emotionally charged issues between the two sides. Caskets that the U.S. shipped to the border last month haven’t been filled, despite Kim Jong Un’s pledge during his June 12 summit with President Donald Trump to immediately repatriate identified remains.
While recovering the war dead would provide Trump a political victory similar to Kim’s May release of three American detainees, it would do little to advance the goal of dismantling the regime’s weapons program. The U.S. also risks giving the North Koreans leverage to continue diplomacy and drag out disarmament talks.
Read more: North Korea Reminds Trump Its Nuclear Weapons Won’t Come Cheap
North Korea’s criticism of talks with Pompeo fueled further doubts about whether Trump will ever achieve his goal of “complete denuclearization,” much less on the timeline of one to 2-1/2 years set out by various administration officials. Although Pompeo called the meetings “productive,” North Korea said the lack of emphasis on security guarantees was “regretful.”
The war dead talks were expected to be led by military officials, not the diplomats who are handling nuclear negotiations. North Korea said Saturday it was seeking the “earliest start of the working-level talks” on the recovery of U.S. remains.
Trump has expressed an eagerness to tout the recovery of the war dead, telling Fox News that Kim was “giving us back the remains of probably 7,500 soldiers.” He also told supporters in Nevada that North Korea had already handed over 200 sets of remains. Pompeo was obliged to correct those claims, telling a U.S. Senate committee June 27 that no exchanges have been made.
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Earlier this morning Trump was bragging to reporters at NATO about his "amazing" meeting with the NK dictator.
Kim is making a fool of Trump, but then, Trump makes a fool of Trump on a daily basis, so it's no big accomplishment.
We should have Dennis Rodman straighten this out. He's obviously more capable than Donald Trump.
Let me say this, I am deeply saddened that the remains of our men have still not been released. I cannot imagine how these families feel waiting so long for this closure and having hope dangled in front of them so carelessly.
I hate that the remains of our citizens are being used as a bargaining chip and exploited by NK, Mr. Trump and his Administration.
It doesn't take a lot of effort to do a bit of research and realize that this is par for the course for NK. Mr. Trump and his huge ego has once again proven to be an obstruction to stratigizing towards tangible outcomes.
the orange baby man should on his knees in front of these families begging for forgiveness for having lied yet again!
Isn't it lovely of Bloomberg to word this in such a PC way?
Trump LIED, AGAIN. Now he's lying about the remains of our war dead.
This answers the question for anyone that has ever asked: "How low will he go'.
There is NO bottom to where Trump will go.
WINNING!!!!!!!!! 😑
Yeah...I'm getting a little tired of all this "winning". It's exhausting....
My feeling are with the families of the KIA...They do not need to be whipsawed like this. Trump should have kept his damn mouth shut until the remains were in our hands, not try to win political points with his supporters.
hear, hear, Kavika. These families deserve consideration.
Trump could care less about the remains or the families.
Trump’s negotiating skills aren’t evident here mostly because he seems to have no idea what he’s doing. All he did was meet with Kim (providing Kim with unprecedented international legitimacy), shake hands, and basically get nothing. Kim’s promise to denuclearize would obviously be in return for a positive relationship that would make nuclear weapons unnecessary. The talks follow Trump’s threat to obliterate NK, which gives Kim a legitimate basis to claim that he needs the weapons for defense, and that ups (not lowers) what Kim would expect in return for denuclearization. Trump’s request for the return of American remains, at the outset of the talks so he can have something to crow about, simply turned them into a bargaining chip.
Honestly, I really haven’t seen a thing Trump has offered (or could offer) that would persuade Kim to denuclearize. If we aren’t prepared to provide Kim security in exchange for denuclearization, then the talks are a waste of time.