North Korea silence speaks volumes on US talks

[DonViejo]

Pyongyang has maintained a deafening silence as news that US President Donald Trump will meet its leader Kim Jong Un made global headlines -- and analysts say the nuclear-armed North is keeping its powder dry, retaining room to manoeuvre.

Trump last week agreed to meet with Kim by the end of May to discuss Pyongyang's denuclearisation -- which it put on the table in exchange for security guarantees -- and predicted the talks would be a "tremendous success". But the unorthodox announcement was made on the White House lawn by a South Korean envoy, with no American officials in attendance, and only confirmed by Washington afterwards.

More than 72 hours later, there has been no comment by the North, and nothing on the subject in its official media.

"It was a unilateral statement by Trump," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University. "Kim Jong Un just sent him a verbal message" through Seoul's intermediaries. "To North Korea, it's not an official agreement," he told AFP. "Nothing's for sure yet. For them, an official announcement has to be based on a government-level agreement that includes the agenda and location."

The same applied to the North's summit with the South that Seoul announced for April, he added.

more
https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/north-korea-silence-speaks-volumes-us-talks-doc-12d3d41

[smirkymonkey]

1. K&R

I don't think this will happen, nor do I think it should. They are both loose cannons and there is too much at stake.

[Fred Sanders]

2. So "the meeting" was fake news generated by the MSM as well as the usual suspects?

Very discouraging.