 S.Korean minister proposes US-N.Korea tradeoff Washington (AFP) Oct 4, 2018 - An end to the Korean War in return for the verified dismantling of its major North Korean nuclear facility: South Korea's foreign minister on Wednesday proposed this tradeoff to unblock stalled negotiations between the United States and North Korea. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump held a groundbreaking summit in Singapore in June, where they reached a vague agreement to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but there has been little movement since. The North, which is under United Nations sanctions, has carried out six nuclear tests and says it has missiles that can hit the United States. "What North Korea has indicated is they will permanently dismantle their nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, which is a very big part of their nuclear program," Seoul's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in an interview with The Washington Post. Her comments came ahead of a visit on Sunday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea, where he will meet strongman Kim Jong Un in an effort to further the denuclearization effort. During a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September, Kim expressed his readiness to close the Yongbyon facility, which is capable of uranium enrichment, if Washington took "corresponding measures." "If they do that in return for America's corresponding measures, such as the end-of-war declaration, I think that's a huge step forward for denuclearization," Kang told the Post. Trump, who has sounded optimistic about holding a second summit with Kim, has not ruled out declaring an end to the 1950-1953 war, which concluded only with an armistice. Pompeo has refused to comment on the declaration option. Referring to a previous verification effort in 2008, Kang said that demanding an inventory of North Korea's nuclear assets risks, at this stage, derailing the process. "I think the last time things broke down precisely as we were working out a detailed protocol on verification after we had gotten the list," she said. "We want to take a different approach," she said. "We will have to see an inventory at some point, but that some point can be reached more expeditiously by action and corresponding measures that give the two sides sufficient trust." At the same time, she dismissed fears of those who think that a formal end to the war will open the door to US disengagement from South Korea, where it bases around 30,000 troops. Kang told the Post that a declaration would be a purely "political" document and "not a legally binding treaty."
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will pay a fresh visit to North Korea on Sunday and meet leader Kim Jong Un as the administration's hopes rise of a denuclearization deal, the State Department said.
The rare advance announcement of a meeting with the young strongman came hours after North Korea raised the stakes in negotiations, saying it would not give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for a peace treaty.
Pompeo, who is trying to arrange a second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, will also head to US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as North Korea's chief ally China with which the United States is engaged in escalating trade and diplomatic disputes.
It will be the fourth trip by Pompeo to longtime US pariah North Korea as the Trump administration looks to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
"I think it shows forward progress and momentum that the secretary is making his fourth trip in less than a year," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.
"Everyone recognizes that we have a ways to go and a lot of work that is left to be done," she said.
"But obviously these conversations are going in the right direction and we feel confident enough to hop on a plane to head there to continue the conversations."
Pompeo has already met twice with Kim, including once when he headed the CIA. But Pompeo did not meet Kim on his last visit in July, when the North Korean leader instead was photographed touring a potato farm.
Another visit by Pompeo was announced in August but was abruptly canceled by Trump.
- Trump 'in love' with Kim -
Kim, who as leader has rarely traveled outside of North Korea, met in June in Singapore with Trump in the first-ever summit between the two countries that have never signed a formal treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
On Saturday, Trump lavished praise on Kim -- considered by human rights groups to be one of the world's most repressive leaders -- and said they had fallen "in love" after an exchange of letters.
If the love is reciprocated, Kim is more reticent in his words.
His foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, on Saturday told the United Nations General Assembly that there was a "deadlock" in the denuclearization talks as the United States "relies on coercive measure that are lethal to trust-building."
The official Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday said that a peace treaty "can never be a bargaining chip," calling an end to war "not just a gift from one man to another."
Nauert played down the remarks, saying: "Other countries sometimes will say things that are more colorful than the United States will, and that's just fine, too."
Trump paints rapprochement with North Korea as a signature foreign policy achievement, although critics question whether Kim would really give up nuclear weapons which his dynasty has defiantly pursued for decades.
- Consulting allies and China -
The United States has insisted on maintaining tight UN sanctions against North Korea during the diplomatic drive, while Beijing has said it is time to start easing sanctions.
The top US diplomat announced last week that he was ready to return to North Korea after meeting Ri, his counterpart, at the United Nations.
Pompeo will open his trip on Saturday in Tokyo, where he will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has long championed a hard line on North Korea but recently said he was willing to meet Kim.
After the talks in Pyongyang, Pompeo will head later Sunday to Seoul, where he will meet President Moon Jae-in, a dove who has helped spearhead the reconciliation efforts with North Korea.
Nauert said Pompeo would head afterward to Beijing for meetings with unspecified officials.
Trump last week slapped $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods and has accused Beijing of interfering in the upcoming US election because of his hard line on trade.
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