North Korea accuses the Trump administration of 'misleading' the public after nuclear talks break do

[Eugene]

Source: Business Insider

North Korea accuses the Trump administration of 'misleading' the public after nuclear talks break down

John Haltiwanger 4 hours ago

North Korea on Sunday accused the US of "misleading" the public on the status of nuclear talks a day after discussions between the two sides in Stockholm broke down within just hours following an eight-month stalemate.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry said the Trump administration was "misleading the public opinion by touting 'good discussions,'" The Washington Post reported, as it simultaneously warned that if the US does not change its approach by the end of the year then relations between the two countries "may immediately come to an end."

"We have no intention to hold such sickening negotiations as what happened this time before the US takes a substantial step," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying in a state news report cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The talks in Stockholm fell apart after roughly eight and a half hours. Following the discussions, the two sides offered conflicting reports on the nature of the dialogue.

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Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-contradicts-trump-administration-says-nuclear-talks-failing-2019-10

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It's really sad when the North Koreans can accuse the U.S. of dishonesty and be credible about it.

Related: North Korea gives Trump administration year-end deadline to change ‘hostile policy’ if it wants nuclear talks to continue (Washington Post)

[keithbvadu2]

1. Great negotiator. Master negotiator.

Great negotiator. Master negotiator.

[Doodley]

2. This is what happens when the presidency is used as a realty TV show. Say whatever you want, the

cameras are rolling. Doesn't matter if it's true.

[soryang]

3. Liars poker

When I saw this story on KBS 24 live on youtube, they said that the North Koreans complained that the US hadn’t changed its position. The report said the US representative Stephen Biegun wouldn’t talk to reporters because it wasn’t appropriate to reveal their reaction publicly. They believe that Biegun went to the US embassy rather than stay at the facilities where the talks were being held. The plans of the NK delegation were not clear at the time. The speculation was that it was the old “one bundle” approach of the US v. the step by step approach. The ironic thing is that this looks similar to what Bolton and Company did to the North at the summit in Hanoi.

I’m kind of surprised because the Washington Talk on VOA Korea by the two well connected experts they had on Saturday, seemed cautious but upbeat. Most experts seemed to know the structure of a deal that could work, I wonder if any were formulated beforehand or if Biegun’s team is just playing liar's poker. “you have to come off the dime first.” “no you have to make the first offer.” “what did you bring to the table?” “what did you bring to the table?” “You have to define denuclearization and the end stage first,” “no, it’s step by step, with reciprocal trust building measures.” “no that isn’t how it works.” “Okay, bye, we see you haven’t changed a bit, why did you bother?”

Biegun clearly knows better from his presentation at Stanford that that was used to sucker the North Koreans at Hanoi. To his credit at his last major policy presentation on North Korea, his views were even less promising and really offered no daylight whatsoever for the North Koreans in terms of changing the US policy position. To be realistic Kim Jong Un's negotiating team isn't negotiating with Trump, it's negotiating with the entire US government and private establishment with vested interests in the so called San Francisco system that supports the US national security interests in the "Indo- Pacific." These people aren't negotiating, they're in the regime change business. Domestically, Trump is so weak at this point it's not likely he's capable of offering a negotiating process the North Korean's can accept, let alone make substantive concessions. This is what he found out after Singapore.