Amid preparations for the next round of nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea, the regime has threatened to resume its nuclear weapons testing, causing fears among analysts that the high-level negotiations may fall apart.
The veiled threat was issued Friday by a North Korean official in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. The official said that should these crippling sanctions not be lifted North Korea will restart “building up nuclear forces.”
His remarks, conveyed by the North Korean state-run news agency KCNA, came only days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to meet with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Chol. The official further accused the United States of believing the “foolish idea that the DPRK came out to the negotiating table, yielding to the sanctions,” while at the same time failing to see that “the improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible.”
The administration of President Donald Trump, however, has long held a position that until Pyongyang gave up its nuclear program, the sanctions will stay in place.
Responding to the comments, Pompeo said he was not worried by such rhetoric. “We know with whom we’re negotiating. We know what their positions are. And President Trump has made his position very clear: no economic relief until we have achieved our ultimate objective,” he said in an interview.
Experts, on the other hand, are worried that the hardline positions held by the two sides, which have already resulted in a stalemate, could eventually lead to a collapse in negotiations.
“This is a more direct threat to collapse talks and resume the nuclear program at full speed than we’ve seen since negotiations since started. So in that regards it’s a shift from their previous position,” said Adam Mount, a senior fellow and the director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists.
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