North Korea is willing to end nuclear and missile tests if the US guarantee's the safety of Kim’s regime

United States president Donald Trump has agreed to meet, in person, with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean Leader, said Chung Eui-yong, South Korean National Security Council chief, who held a meeting with president Donald Trump.

Among the US officials were the National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, the Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, and the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

The South Korean envoy said that, in his recent talks with the North Korean leader, he had expressed a willingness to meet with president Trump as soon as possible. Kim Jong-un said he is faithful to denuclearization and said North Korea will desist from any further nuclear or missile tests if the US can guarantee the safety of Kim’s regime.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un. The announcement was released by Chung Eui-yong, where he recognized Trump’s leadership and the US policy of “maximum pressure” for bringing North Korea to the table.

Chung said that he is "optimistic of continuing a diplomatic process”. But he added that "the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions”.  Spokeswoman Sanders also added, that "in the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain”.

Trump’s decision to meet with Kim Jong-un is supported by the Vice President Mike Pence, who set the US’ tone as the top official at the Winter Olympic games in South Korea. A Trump administration official, who told reporters on condition of anonymity, pointed out that prior administrations had entered IGNORE INTO conversations with the North Korean regime at lower levels. "There was not a letter”, the official said. "This was a message conveyed orally by Kim Jong Un to the national security advisor of South Korea during the several hours of meetings just a couple days ago in Pyongyang and Ambassador Chung, who is the national security advisor, then conveyed to the president today in the Oval Office”.

The reactions among analysts were mixed with some saying Trump is risking and legitimizing the regime while others seeing the potential for a break of tensions. “Now the hard work begins,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said in a statement. “Though President Trump deserves credit for being so bold as to agree to a summit meeting with North Korea by May, this is a process that will, if it’s successful, be a long-one that takes patience and persistence”.

“A meeting with an American president has been a top North Korean foreign policy goal for more than 20 years”, said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, on Twitter.

The U.S. and North Korea have been at loggerheads since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953 and Kim’s government has repeatedly said nuclear weapons were necessary to dissuade any US-led military action. Talks have repeatedly broken down, with both sides accusing the other of failing to live up to agreements.

Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella

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