Trump sends Kim photos from DMZ visit; nuclear talks stalled

[demmiblue]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has sent mementos from his brief visit to North Korea last month to Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon), but substantive nuclear talks between the two countries have not yet resumed.

A senior administration official says a top staffer from the National Security Council hand-delivered photographs from the June Trump-Kim meeting at the demilitarized zone to a North Korean official last week.

When asked when the North would be willing to restart substantive talks on its nuclear program, as Kim committed when Trump took brief steps into its territory, the North Korean official would only say they would be willing to restart discussions very soon.

The Trump administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

https://apnews.com/0b83e5a7a0cf4b96a2753df2819cc02c

[Frustratedlady]

1. Did he also send his report, "What I did on my summer vacation."

Sounds like one of those reports you have to make when you return to the new school year.

He could also add a hand print of his tiny fingers at the bottom. Kim would think that was a love note.

[gratuitous]

2. Babe, do you remember . . . ?

It's just so sad when one person has moved on and the other hasn't. Happened to me back in high school, and it was tough. Gotta be extra tough for a 73-year-old man to have to go through this in public and watch his squeeze moving on to younger despots.

[soryang]

3. At the same time, Bolton demanded 5 billion dollars from South Korea in cost sharing

This is from Channel A News a South Korean broadcaster.

I think they settled for 890 million last year.

I saw a statement from Pompeo on VOA Korea yesterday, that sanctions would be maintained until final full denuclearization. He made the statement before some US think tank or ngo. This position is the reason why there won't be any negotiations. Pompeo facetiously maintained that this was the position of the UN, as if the opinion of the permanent security council members, China and Russia were irrelevant.

If there were significant steps taken toward dismantlement of nuclear facilities in North Korea, the three largest permament members of the security council could easily get approval for any partial sanctions relief. The one commonly believed to be possible is the easing of sanctions for South Korean North Korean economic cooperation at Kaesong joint industrial region and Gumgansang resort.