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| U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at Panmunjeom on June 30. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
The no-deal U.S.-North Korea talks in Stockholm last week have resulted in another tedious delay in their denuclearization negotiations after a months-long stalemate since the failed Hanoi summit between the leaders of the two countries in February.
The timing of the resumption of bilateral talks remains unclear at this point, but prospects are not entirely negative. In particular, the trust established between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who met alongside President Moon Jae-in during a surprise gathering on the southern side of the border village of Panmunjeom in June, will remain a dominant factor in accelerating the nuclear disarmament talks despite the latest setback in the Swedish capital, according to insiders.
"There is trust among the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and North Korea. Also, the National Security Councils (NSC) of South Korea and the U.S. are maintaining close communication, and there is no huge difference in the negotiations tactics between Korea and the U.S. But the U.S. working-level officials do not have 100 percent confidence in North Korea's willingness to denuclearize," a senior diplomatic source said. "There may be significant progress depending on how seriously Pyongyang engages in talks with the U.S."
Even after the Sweden talks, President Trump has continued to stress his relationship with Kim. While talking about his controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Wednesday, the U.S. leader suggested that he also speaks on the phone with Kim. It has been well-known that the two leaders have exchanged letters prior to their meetings, but the possible telephone conversations between the two leaders suggests an unusual level of trust between them.
Cheong Wa Dae has been maintaining a positive outlook on the resumption of U.S.-N.K talks, with the view that those in Sweden were only a part of the process to resolve the denuclearization situation. "The door for conversation has not been closed completely. Right now, the most important thing is for the two sides to sit down together again. The talks in Sweden have been concluded, but the entire negotiations process for North Korea's denuclearization has not been terminated and is still very much ongoing" a presidential aide said.
Unlike Washington, Pyongyang refused Sweden's invitation to resume the talks at a later date, but speculation is rising that the North is weighing the timing of restarting them given the negative impact of stalled negotiations on sanctions relief. Any deadlock in the talks will inevitably hamper Kim's desire to get the international sanctions lifted so as to advance his country's economic development, according to some experts. The North walked away from the negotiations Sweden after the U.S. did not respond sufficiently to their demands for sanctions relief.
"North Korea will continue to be isolated and its people will end up in a more difficult situation. Additionally, the international community's distrust of North Korea will grow stronger," Cheong Seong-chang, vice president of research and planning at the Sejong Institute said, underlining the rigidity of the current working-level negotiation team led by North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. "The North Korean leader should make a wise choice between becoming further isolated from the international community or entrusting the negotiations to a more flexible and pragmatic team."
