US envoy Stephen Biegun dismisses year-end deadline, urges North Korea to talk

Biegun arrived in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials and warned North Korea against ‘major provocation in the days ahead’
North Korean officials recently said denuclearisation is off the table and they have threatened to lift a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests

North Korea

Associated Press

Published: 2:00pm, 16 Dec 2019

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A senior US diplomat said on Monday that Washington won’t accept a year-end deadline set by North Korea to make concessions in stalled nuclear talks and urged Pyongyang to return to a negotiating table immediately.

“On this point, let me be absolutely clear: the United States does not have a deadline,” Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, told reporters. “We are fully aware of the strong potential for North Korea to conduct a major provocation in the days ahead. To say the least, such an action will be most unhelpful in achieving lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.”

Biegun, who was in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials, called on North Korea to sit down for talks.

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“Let me speak directly to our counterparts in North Korea: It is time for us to do our jobs. Let’s get this done. We are here. And you know how to reach us,” he said.

It’s unclear if North Korea will reach out to the US to resolve their widening differences on how to achieve North Korean denuclearisation.

Senior North Korean officials have recently said denuclearisation is already off the negotiating table and they have threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. In past months, North Korea has also conducted a series of short-range missile and other weapons tests.

Stephen Biegun, US special representative for North Korea, with Chung Eui-yong, the director of the National Security Office of South Korea. Photo: EPA

Worries about a major North Korean provocation grew after the country said on Saturday that it successfully performed an unspecified “crucial test” that will strengthen its nuclear deterrent. Experts say the North could launch a satellite-carrying rocket or an intercontinental ballistic missile if the US fails to meet the year-end deadline.

Friday’s test was the second in a week at the rocket facility where North Korea has conducted missile-engine tests and launched satellites in what the UN called cover for testing its long-range missile technology.

North Korea’s military chief Pak Jong-chon asserted on Saturday that the North has built up “tremendous power” and that the findings from the recent tests would be used to develop new weapons to allow the country to “definitely and reliably” counter US nuclear threats.

The test-flight of an ICMB would likely completely derail diplomatic efforts as President Donald Trump has viewed the North Korean weapons test moratorium as a major foreign policy achievement.

Biegun called the latest North Korean statements “so hostile and negative and so unnecessary”.

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He said they don’t reflect the spirit and content of the discussions the two countries have had since the North entered talks with the US last year.

He said the United States has offered “any number of creative ways to proceed with feasible steps and flexibility in our negotiations to reach balanced agreements that meet the objectives of both sides.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: US envoy dismisses talks deadline, but tells North Korea ‘let’s get this done’

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